Take A Chance On Me
by I'veGotAnotherConfessionToMake
Summary: He'd known her since he was a kid, sure, but that didn't mean he had to like her. She was shallow, and petty, everything he stood against. So why was he drawn to her like a moth to the flame?
1. Chapter 1

**YMy first attempt at a That 70s Show fic, so please, bear with me. But I've loved Hyde and Jackie for years, and been itching to write out a story about them, so here goes. If there were ever a fictional world I wish I could be apart of, T7S would be one of them.**

 **This story will follow Hyde and Jackie, alternating between the two of them, and start from them young and move up through their lives to their eventual romance. I love a good smutty fic as much as the next person, but it will take some time to get to that point in this story.**

 **I chose two songs, one for Hyde and one for Jackie. It's not necessary to listen to them to understand the story, but I thought they fit the characterization that we're given of them from the show, at least from my point of view. And it's my story, so there.**

 **Hyde = Old Man by Neil Young**

 **Jackie = Shop Around by Captain and Tennille**

Old Man

Chapter One

 _Old man, look at my life,_

 _I'm a lot like you._

Friday, February 1968

Old Maine Elementary, Point Place, Wisconsin

"Steven, come here, please," Ms. Hodgekiss called from the front of the class, instantly drawing silence from his classmates around him.

Steven looked up, surprise on his features, from his shoebox diorama on the solar system. His best friend, Eric Forman, made eye contact with him for a moment before quickly turning away. Sweat began to pool on the palms of Steven's hands, as usually  
happened whenever he felt the wrath of an adult directed at him.

Ms. Hodgekiss took a couple steps towards Steven's desk, calling his name again. Her balled fist landed on her pudgy hip.

"Steven, if I have to ask again, you'll be going to see Principal Cutter."

Standing from his desk, Steven wiped his hands down the thighs of his pants and made his way up to the front of the class, feeling as one condemned to hang. The narrow pathway between the two columns of desks felt like the green mile. As he passed Eric's  
desk, Forman coughed noticeably and again, avoided making eye contact, turning almost sideways in his chair away from Steven.

Whenhe reached Ms. Hodgekiss's desk, Steven saw the tattered, smashed remains of Christine Delbuono's diorama and dread clenched his stomach. The diorama, a depiction of the four food groups, had been found destroyed on the floor in front of their  
cubbies upon the class's return from recess. The class had talked of nothing else since.

Christine had tears pouring down her plump cheeks and fixed Steven with a glare of anger from beside Ms. Hodgekiss, whom in turn had her claw like fingers wrapped around Christine's shoulders. Steven looked down to the linoleum flooring, waiting for the  
blow. He hated getting into trouble, and avoided it at all costs. His mothers' anger was enough, but school was supposed to be different, better. Happier. He had friends at school, and wasn't ridiculed. At school, he was smart and people laughed at  
his jokes, instead of at home, where his mom yelled at him from in front of the TV to Shut The Fuck Up. Here, he was the Cool Kid.

Ms. Hodgekiss's bosom swelled as she sucked in a breath of air and Christine winced as the grip on her shoulders tightened momentarily. "Mr. Hyde, would you like to explain how it is that Christine's diorama is in this state?"

Steven kept his gaze trained on the floor. He shook his head from left to right, dirty curls bouncing,and mumbled, "I didn't do it, Ms. Hodgekiss."

"Steven. Look at me."

Steven brought his gaze up, glancing at Christine, then to the diorama before finally looking at Ms. Hodgekiss. A gaggle of whispering started up from his classmates. Steven felt a rush of heat creep up his neck and onto his cheeks. He could feel  
the eyes of his classmates like needles on his back.

"Quiet!" Ms. Hodgekiss barked. The class was immediately silent again. Someone coughed, Forman from the sounds of it, and Steven resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Forman was worse with adult confrontation, even when it had nothing to do with him. Steven  
half expected Forman to jump out of his chair and fess up to destroying the diorama himself, to save the tension currently rolling across the class in waves.

"Now, Steven," Ms. Hodgekiss started, her voice low and even, measured with suppressed anger. "Why did you break Christine's diorama?"

"I didn't, Ms. Hodgekiss," Steven repeated, fixing his eyes on a spot between Ms. Hodgekiss's eyebrows. "I swear!"

"Right, ok," Ms. Hodgekiss huffed, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Ms. Hodgekiss released Christine and swept around to stand behind her desk. Reaching for a pad of slips in the top drawer of her desk, she quickly wrote Steven's name across the top and then a paragraph at the bottom, folding it into fourths before standing  
straight and looking across the faces of the children seated before her.

"Class, I will be escorting Mr. Hyde to Principal Cutter's office. In the mean time, I would like for you to read from your science books, starting at chapter five. There will be no need to talk," Ms. Hodgekiss said as she placed a hand on Steven's shoulder  
and turned him towards the door.

Steven swallowed over the lump building in his throat and looked towards Forman. Eric briefly looked up but almost immediately looked away again when he saw Steven was looking his way, his green eyes wide with guilt.

"Ms. Hodgekiss, I swear! I swear I didn't do anything to her project!" Steven protested, looking up at Ms. Hodgekiss as she frog marched him out of the class.

"Save it for Principal Cutter, Steven!"

Steven's feet felt like they were squelching through tar the whole walk to the principal's office, the vice grip on his arm the only thing keeping him from bolting out the school's front doors and never looking back. When they reached the solid wood door  
of Principal Cutter's office, Steven saw his future flash before his eyes. A collage of Principal's and law enforcement officer's faces, flashing red and blue lights and handcuffs. The future that all adults he encountered warned him would be his.

And it was there with Ms. Hodgekiss's floral perfume making his stomach turn that Steven Hyde came to an epiphany. Screw trying to avoid trouble. He couldn't avoid it at home, and now, it appeared, he couldn't avoid it at school either. If they wanted  
to make him the bad kid, a bad kid they would get.

-x-

Dinner that night was dismal to say the least. A leftover chili concoction from the high school, where Edna worked as a lunch lady, with a taste that begged to be asked how old it was. And what exactly it was that was in the chili. Cheese and onion toppings  
could in no way improve this dinner, even if cheese and onions were to be had in the Hyde household, which they weren't.

Steven tried not to think too hard about the gritty pieces of meat floating in a greasy red sauce as he shoveled food in his mouth in front of the TV. Bewitched was on, his favorite. Edna was in the kitchen, sashaying to the radio with a lit cigarette  
in her mouth, her hands occupied with making a rum and coke. She hummed out of tune and removed her cigarette to gulp her drink in three long swallows. Edna pulled hard on her cigarette and made a new drink, before moving into the living room and  
collapsing onto the couch with a huff. The opening to Bewitched was the only sound besides Steven's spoon scraping his bowl of dinner and the ice clinking in Edna's glass.

"So, Steven." The ice clinked in her glass as she moved her wrist in small circles, mixing the liquor and pop. "How was school today?" Edna said finally, sipping at her rum and coke. Her face scrunched ever so slightly at the strongness of the drink.

Steven chewed his bite of chili thoughtfully. This could go one of two ways. Edna never asked how his day at school was unless she knew that he had gotten in trouble. Apparently, there was an explicit grapevine of gossip between the Lunch Ladies of Point  
Place. He would either be getting his ass whipped, or he would be sleeping in the backyard again. Edna liked to punish Steven the way she had punished Bud; physically and cruelly. No wonder his dad had split. Steven looked out the screen door covering  
the front entrance. At least it wasn't snowing tonight.

"Someone destroyed Christine Delbuono's project. I got blamed for it." Steven swirled his spoon through the chili, keeping his eyes fixed on Samantha as she served her family with a smile and a fresh, hot meal. Steven inhaled deeply and forced a wave  
of calm to wash over him.

Edna grunted behind him from her perch on the couch. Steven felt his body tense, waiting for her reaction.

 _Zen, Steven, Zen, like Uncle Buck used to say,_ Steven chanted. _I am the Zen Master._

"'Someone,'" Edna started to say, interrupting herself with another gulp of rum and coke. "Or you, Steven?"

Steven stalled by taking another two bites of chili. Edna's foot against his back, choking him as he swallowed, prompted him to speak. "Ma, it wasn't me, I swear."

"You're just like your father, lazy and a liar, Steven," Edna began, sinking deeper into the couch. Steven stood from his place on the floor and began to make his way to the kitchen. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"And I'm listening!" Steven hollered back, dropping his bowl and spoon into the sink.

There was a stomping noise as Edna got up off the couch. He could hear her unsteady footsteps as she made her way towards the kitchen after him.

"Don't speak to me that way, I can still whip your ass," Edna slurred, coming to the counter and preparing another drink. "Probably what you need too, a good whipping."

Steven busied himself running the tap and rinsing his bowl. He placed his dishes on the dish rack and wiped his hands down the front of his jeans. Edna was leaning against the counter, staring at him when he turned towards her, a fresh rum and coke in  
her long fingers.

"You know, I had such high hopes for you," Edna started, her free arm crossed across her stomach, her drink hand close to her face. She pointed her index finger at him, the other three clutched around the sweating glass. "But you really did turn out just  
like him."

Steven hung his head, his eyes fixing onto the warped wooden slats of the kitchen floor. The quieter he was, the quicker Edna would become too drunk to finish her tirade and he would be able to sneak off to bed. He just had to keep calm. Zen.

"I just don't understand where I went wrong with you. You're an embarrassment to me Steven, do you know that? The worst mistake I ever made was marrying your father," Edna finished her third drink and shoved off the counter. She pulled the handle of rum  
towards her and unscrewed the cap. "The second was having you."

Steven shut his eyes and tried to regulate his breathing as heat prickled at his eyes. Crying would only make it ten times worse. That he had learned a few years back. He took a deep breath and pictured Samantha and Darren and their perfect house. He  
imagined a place that was always clean, with a front door that locked and a bath that had hot water for longer than forty-five seconds, if even at all. He envisioned going to sleep at night and not hearing the rats in the walls. Steven wished that  
Samantha would sweep into his life, twitch her nose and Edna would disappear.

"I had dreams you know! I was going to be in show business!" Edna waved her drink hand through the air, emphasizing the fact that the run down house was not her idea of how her life should have turned out. Her lips turned down in a frown and her brown  
eyes swept across the dirty counter tops. "I was the top girl of the pyramid at Tony Barnett's Water Show. Till I met your father, got knocked up, and you ruined my life."

Edna's rant was interrupted by a series of knocks at the front door. Tipping back her drink, she snapped her fingers at Steven, motioning to the stairs. "Not a peep out of you!"

Grateful, Steven took the stairs two at a time, reaching the relative safety of his bedroom with a sigh. He looked around the bare walls with peeling wallpaper covered over with posters of cars. The bookcase in the corner was mostly empty as well, save  
a few hot wheels cars and an erector set that was missing most of the pieces.

Edna's grating laughter drifted up the stairs as Steven changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. A male voice followed and Steven listened as the front door slammed closed and his mom and her man of the week traipsed down the porch steps to a car  
parked on the curb. Two car doors slammed shut and the engine roared as the car was gunned down the street.

Steven lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His heart pounded beneath his ribs and his breaths came out in angry bursts. It could've been a lot worse, he decided. At least he wasn't curled up on the porch in a sleeping bag.

Not this time.

"I'll be better than this," Steven muttered to himself and to the rats scratching in the walls. "I'll show her just what I can be."

-x-

Friday, June 1970

Old Maine Elementary

Steven Hyde tossed the empty can of gasoline into Ms. Hodgekiss's classroom and struck a match, smiling as the flame lit up his face. School had ended on Wednesday for the summer, and Edna had taken off with _Uncle_ Larry for god knew where. There  
was no time like the present for Steven to exact a bit of revenge on his second grade teacher and the establishment in general. Uncle Larry had left a can of gasoline on the back porch from his attempt to mow the waist high weeds that covered the  
lawn, only to discover that Edna had lost the lawnmower in a game of Texas Hold 'Em. Steven laughed with glee at what fate had given him. Practically tied with a bow.

Tossing the match in a wide arc, Steven watched with satisfaction as the match met the gasoline and a wall of flame burst up before him. He paused long enough to admire the posters on the walls crumble and wave as they burned,before he hurried to  
the hall,and surveyed the area for an escape. Steven climbed out of the window of the classroom adjacent to Ms. Hodgekiss's and hid in the bushes across from the school's parking lot, watching as the glowing red of the fire lit up the windows  
of the classroom and then spread to the next room and the next and the next.

Windows burst as the heat of the fire grew. Steven smiled, his eyes set on the flames licking out the open mouthed windows.

The fire quickly consumed Old Maine and Steven sat in the bushes watching, an odd sense of fulfillment in his chest. This was what his mother always said would become of him, a criminal. This is what the teacher's at school thought of him. Steven felt  
he couldn't let them down. And now, he hadn't.

The blackberry bushes scratched his arms and yet Steven couldn't look away. The roar of the fire engines tearing up the drive startled him out of his daze and Steven slunk farther into the safety of the bushes. He had a flashback of himself two years  
ago, vowing to be better than this. And for the life of him, he couldn't remember just why it was that he had ever thought that being "better" was the way he needed to go. Vandalism and petty crime was far more exciting.

Uncle Larry usually spouted off idealisms about the government and what they were doing to the little man, the underdog, every afternoon as Edna made dinner, a leftover concoction from the school lunch that day, or a few days past. And Steven sat before  
him on the floor, soaking in every word, breathing deep the sweet, skunky smell of Uncle Larry's cigarettes. With the smoke making his body feel light and Uncle Larry's words engraining themselves in his brain, Steven felt his whole perception change.

This, the burning of Old Maine, was his greatest achievement thus far. And man, was he planning to do great things in his life.

As the firemen attempted to control the flames that had consumed the school, Steven army crawled his way out of the brush, and out towards the main road. It was still relatively early in the evening, plenty of time to get home.

Steven stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way down Main St towards the Piggly Wiggly. He knew there wouldn't be any food at home, and with the adrenaline still coursing through his veins from the fire he had started, Steven was itching to commit  
more crime. What better to do than steal something for dinner?

The Piggly Wiggly was busy for a Friday night and Steven slunk in behind a mother with five children tagging behind her. No one would think twice about him sneaking behind them. The mother turned up the canned food aisle and Steven took the opportunity  
to stuff a can of green beans into the pocket of his jacket. A can of Vienna sausages followed, and finally a small box of saltines. Tonight, he would feast.

Steven kept one eye on the lookout for employees and the other trained on the mother and children making their way down and out of the canned food aisle and up towards the registers. It was then that he saw them, the display for Hershey's chocolate bars.  
His mouth watered at the very thought of biting into the creamy cocoa and sugar confection and he knew he had one last thing he needed to grab before he made his grand exit.

His hand was wrapped around the chocolate bar when he felt the burning hot gaze of someone staring on his neck. Whipping around Steven came face to face with a girl, maybe his age, with a mane of curly black hair and mismatched eyes. She was standing  
with a woman in a maid's uniform, and giving Hyde a look of interest. Her eyes went from the chocolate bar in his hand, to the obvious bulge of food in his coat pockets. She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot as her companion muttered  
in Spanish and moved farther down the store, glancing at a list for reference. The girl glanced at the maid's departure and then turned back to Steven, her eyes narrowing at him in disgust. Her plump lips opened to speak and then snapped shut again.  
Steven cleared his throat, feeling the tension building between them.

Never breaking eye contact, Steven slipped the Hershey's bar into his bulging pockets and started to back away towards the door. A part of him hoped the girl, who looked vaguely familiar from school, would call him out for his theft. But then his stomach  
growled and he quickened his pace from the store, desperate at the idea of a full belly. No, a pretty face would not distract him from his ultimate goal.

The cool night air greeted him like an old friend as Steven hurried across the parking lot towards Main. He was just getting to the sidewalk when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Hey, Hyde!"

Steven turned around on the heel of his shoe and saw Forman waving to him from next to the boat of a carhis parents drove. Mrs. Forman was loading paper bags of groceries into the back of the Vista Cruiser and smiled and waved when Steven started  
to make his way towards them.

"Hey, Forman," Steven said coming up to the pair. "Mrs. Forman."

"Steven, what are you doing all on your own?" Mrs. Forman questioned, fixing him with a penetrating glare. "Where are your parents?"

Steven cleared his throat, hoping the clanging of the metal tins in his pocket wouldn't give him away. "Oh, my mom went somewhere with Uncle Larry."

"Ah, well isn't that nice!" Mrs. Forman exclaimed. She slammed the back doors of the Cruiser shut and planted her hands on her hips. "Who's watching you, Steven?"

 _Oh, no._ Steven hadn't thought of that coming into question.

"Oh, uhm, well," Steven started to say, looking around the darkening parking lot for inspiration.

"Steven." Mrs. Forman took two steps closer, her hands still planted firmly on her hips and a purely "Mother" look on her face. "Who is watching you?"

Steven looked to Forman, who smirked and climbed into the backseat of the Cruiser.

Mrs. Forman placed a hand on Steven's shoulder and steered him towards the car, taking his silence as all the proof she needed as to just who exactly was waiting for Steven at home: No one. Steven climbed into the backseat with Forman and glared at his  
best friend. If only he hadn't said anything to him, then he'd be off, enjoying his solitude and Vienna sausages.

The Forman residence was warm and all the lights seemed to be on, something Steven wasn't used to at all. Whenever he or Edna moved from room to room, they had to take the only working light bulb in the house if they wanted to see where they were going.  
He clambered out of the cruiser and met Eric and Mrs. Forman at the rear of the car, carrying in a bag of groceries without complaint into the house.

Mr. Forman was at the fridge, a cold can of beer in his hand. When his eyes landed on Steven he sighed and left without a word, pushing his way through the swinging door to the living room.

"Now boys, go play downstairs while I get dinner ready," Mrs. Forman said, placing her bag of groceries on the counter.

"Come on, Hyde," Eric said, leading the way out of the kitchen to the basement.

The Forman's basement was an odd collection of miscellanea, with a couch and TV thrown in the middle. Hyde settled himself onto the cracked white vinyl chair beside the couch and pulled his assortment of canned goods from his pockets with a flourish.

"Whoa," Eric said, sitting on the couch and picking up the can of green beans. "Did you steal this stuff?"

Steven puffed out his chest and sat back in the chair. "Yeah, Forman, I did."

Eric looked nervously towards the stairs leading to the kitchen and back to the paraphernalia on the spool table. "Hyde, you could get in so much trouble. If you get caught, they could put this on your permanent record!"

Steven huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever. I don't care."

"I'm serious. Maybe I should tell my mom, she'll know what to say if the cops come," Eric said, moving to stand from the couch.

Out of reflex, Steven reached out and punched Eric, hard, in the deltoid. Eric cried out and sank back onto the couch, contrite. "Ok, fine, I won't say anything."

"Good, now let's watch TV till your mom calls us up for dinner."

-x-

The plate of food Mrs. Forman placed in front of Steven was like nothing he had ever seen before. A leg and thigh of fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. A mixture of vegetables. Rolls, hot from the oven and a dish of butter to go along with it. Steven felt  
he must have died and gone to Heaven. Samantha from Bewitched couldn't make a meal like this.

"Thank you, Mrs. Forman!" Steven exclaimed, biting into the leg of chicken and reminding himself to chew, when all he wanted to do was swallow the delicious hot meal before him in one gulp.

Mrs. Forman smiled and trilled one of her laughs, placing a comforting hand on Steven's shoulder as she placed a second plate before Eric.

Steven looked around the table. Eric and Laurie bickered across from him, and Red popped the top on a cold beer. Mrs. Forman finished serving the plates and sat at the table, urging her own two children to stop fighting and start eating. Steven had never  
felt so out of place and jealous.

But as the dinner progressed and Mr. and Mrs. Forman included him more and more into the conversation, listening to what he had to say, Steven decided that perhaps there was a real-life Samantha and Darren out there, and he wished that he had them as  
parents with all his heart. He knew he would never give up his self-proclaimed life of crime, but he desperately wished for this to be his future too. A good woman, a house with a door that locked. Hell, even the two kids fighting.

Steven scooped a large bite of mashed potatoes onto his fork and smile at his companions around him. Yep, this was the life he wanted. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud.


	2. Chapter 2

**Old** **Man**

Chapter Two

 _You keep your freedom for as long as you can, now_

 _My mama told me  
You better shop around_

September 1969

The Burkhart Mansion

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Jacqueline, happy birthday to you!" The singing died off at separate tempos, as Esmeralda, the Burkhart's live in maid, placed an intricately iced cake before the birthday girl, smiling down at Jackie with affection. Jackie looked around to the people surrounding the large dining room table and felt gratified at the attention bestowed upon her. She thrived off of the attention of others.

Jackie beamed beatifically at her party guests, before closing her eyes and making a wish, to be the most beautiful, popular and richest girl in the world, and blowing out the candles on her cake. A smart spattering of applause from her party guests and Esmeralda moved in again, taking the cake to the sideboard to begin cutting slices of cake.

Pam Burkhart appeared from the kitchen, a full glass of wine in her hand. When she saw that the cake was already being cut she smiled around at the guests and made her way over to Esmeralda.

"Esme, por favor, don't give Jacqueline too large of a slice," Pam slid her manicured hand through Jackie's hair, whispering conspiratorially in a voice that carried around to the other guests, many of whom pretended not to hear. "Jackie only just lost that baby fat in her cheeks, we don't want her gaining it all back, now do we?"

Jackie felt a blush heat her cheeks as Kelly Brown snickered from across the table. Kelly had never had an ounce of fat on her body, and even at eight years old, Jackie had grown jealous of Kelly's waifish figure and legs that promised her height would be that of a model. Jackie had short stubby legs and hair that frizzed in the rain. Kelly's hair had never so much as a kink in its perfect ringlets. Jackie often dreamed of shaving Kelly's head bald. Jackie had listened to Pam trill on and on, for nearly as long as she could remember, about famous supermodels, as Pam skipped certain meals to maintain her petite waist, chastising Jackie for asking for seconds at dinner.

Whenever her father was home, Jackie was unconcerned about her mother. Her mother would never dare to make such comments when her father was around, but Jack Burkhart was rarely home and Pam Burkhart was tenacious in her "mothering".

Esme placed a plate of cake in front of Jackie, the piece noticeably larger than any of the others, but Jackie found she wasn't hungry for cake anymore. She grazed the frosting off her slice, scraping the tines of her fork against the side of the fine china with restrained force. Jackie found she couldn't keep a frown of displeasure from her lips. She blinked her eyes rapidly, the feeling of hot tears prickled at the corners of her eyes.

"Time for presents!" Pam called from the living room.

Jackie pushed back from the table, shoving her way to the front of the group of girls, her spirits lifted when her eyes landed on the pile of gifts on and around the grand piano. That was the only way she had truly ever known the truth of the love people claimed to have for her. The larger the present, the more the love. That's what her mother always said, and Pam had never been false to Jackie as of yet.

In record time, wrapping paper and ribbon littered the expensive Persian rug and Jackie looked around passively at all her new gifts, her adrenaline sinking along with her expectations. A Barbie Dream-house and a new Barbie and Ken doll complete with clothes and accessories. An Easy-Bake oven with cake and cookie mixes waiting to be cooked with a light bulb that Kelly Brown eyed with jealousy. New clothes, from the best stores in the mall, which Pam had announced to the room, may not fit after all that birthday cake. A wooden jewelry box with a dancing ballerina that played music and held a gold chain adorned with a locket pendant on the plush velvet. Jackie had received the best gifts; minus the fuzzy socks Leslie Ann had given her. Who, besides poor people, wanted socks for their birthday? She made a mental note that Leslie Ann was not to be invited to her next birthday.

Esme moved into the room, scooping up the pieces of wrapping paper with quick, efficient movements, humming to herself as the party goers and Jackie moved to the back yard for what Pam promised would be a spectacular treat.

The expansive backyard had been transformed. Pink streamers were strung from the low branches of the trees and pink balloons were tied to the back of the patio chairs. A unicorn piñata had been set up by the tool shed, and a pony was grazing next to the in-ground pool. A clown had set up shop close to the in-ground pool and was filling long balloons to make balloon animals for the few girls who quickly gathered around him. Jackie swelled with pride. Her party was going to be the talk of the school.

"Girls, girls!" Pam trilled, swaying her hips as she strode from the house to the back porch, a fresh glass of wine in hand. The shrieks of eight year olds died down as everyone gathered around Pam on the porch, Jackie pushing her way to the front so as to be closest to her mother.

Pam smiled down on the party guests and said with an air of excitement, "I have booked the best entertainment in Point Place! Girls, may I present, Zippy the Clown!"

Zippy had bright red hair and his white face had been painted over harshly with blues, reds and greens. Jackie took a front row seat between Kelly Brown and Emma Perkins and cheered with the rest as Zippy tripped overdramatically on his way to the porch. The crowd laughed appreciatively in response. He was wearing a voluminous white costume with frilly collar and cuffs, a large yellow flower pinned over his heart, the red wig protruded in two tufts just over his ears. Jackie thought he looked like a cheap knock-off of Bozo.

"Hiya, kids! I'm Zippy the Clown!" Zippy pulled a bouquet of flowers from his sleeve, presenting them with a flourish to Pam, who giggled and pressed her hand over her heart theatrically before taking them. Jackie felt a shudder up her spine at the action, but clapped enthusiastically when Emma and Kelly cheered from either side of her.

"Did I hear that it was someone's birthday today?" Zippy said in a singsong voice, bending at the knees to meet Jackie's eyes. Zippy winked at Jackie and extended a fleshy palm to her.

Jackie looked at Zippy's outstretched hand with apprehension. Pam cleared her throat loudly and forced a laugh at Jackie's reluctance. "Oh, quit being silly, dear! Get up there!"

Jackie could feel the eyes of everyone fixed upon her, which steeled her nerves to stand from her seat. Being the center of attention was like heroin to Jackie's system; it made her feel invincible. Her mother always told her, being the center of an audience was the only way to secure True Love, as a man would only ever want a woman who was able to light up a room, simply with her presence.

"And what is your name, little girl?" Zippy said.

"Jacqueline," Jackie replied, pulling her hand from Zippy's sweaty embrace, wiping it on the skirt of her pink party dress.

"Well, Jacqueline, would you like to help me with my magic show today?" Zippy pushed a cart over from behind the BBQ pit at the edge of the porch and began pulling props out to begin his show.

Jackie looked over at her mother, who sipped at her wine and laughed with the other chaperone mothers gathered at the back of the group, none of them paying the least attention to the show unfurling before their daughters. Jackie turned back to Zippy with trepidation, muttering a reply of, "Okay" under her breath.

The evening progressed in incrementing stages of horror. Zippy the clown was the most horrifying person Jackie had ever laid eyes on. Not only was his makeup cheap, it began to sweat off in rivulets down his plump cheeks five minutes into his hour-long show. The smell of booze permeated off his body in waves the more he sweat, and Jackie found him all the more repulsive for it. But the true horror came when Zippy, in a moment of true showmanship, tricked her into leaning close to the yellow flower pinned to his lapel, promising the "sweetest scent of roses and peonies ever smelt by anyone in the universe", and, instead, sprayed her repeatedly in the face with tepid water that smelled like mildew. Jackie shrieked in terror as the water soaked into her pink party dress, staring incredulously at Zippy and then to her mother, who laughed with the rest of the party guests with glee at Jackie's shame.

"Oh, no! Looks like someone needs a handkerchief!" Zippy said, gesturing to Jackie to take the red cloth poking from the pocket of his costume. Jackie grabbed at it gratefully, pulling at the red handkerchief. And pulling, and pulling, as red, blue, green, yellow, orange squares of cloth revealed themselves. Jackie dropped the vile contraption as Zippy squealed with staged laughter, taking over where Jackie left off, pulling the rest of the tied handkerchiefs from his pocket with a flourish and waving it like a ribbon over the heads of the other girls, before wrapping it around Jackie who began to cry in earnest the tighter it wound around her. She felt like she were trapped in a box, the walls closing in around her till she found herself gasping for breath, unable to take a full inhale.

Kelly Brown laughed and pointed at Jackie, bringing in Emma and Denise, her lackey's. The world seemed to slow down as the group directed their laughter at Jackie. Her hands ripped at the handkerchiefs wrapped around her in desperation. Once she had finally freed herself, Jackie tore away from the show, running into the house as hot tears poured down her cheeks.

"Jacqueline! Jackie! Get back out here! It's only part of the show, dear!" Pam called with forced calmness, following Jackie into the house at a brisk pace, her heels clacking sharply against the floor.

Jackie ran up to her room, slamming the door behind her before throwing herself onto her bed, sobbing in earnest. She could hear Pam talking down stairs and then the sound of feet on the steps, making their way towards Jackie's bedroom. She pressed her face harder into the pink pillowcase, so hard her nose began to throb at the pressure. Jackie wished they would all go away, back to whatever poor excuse of a house they lived in, where none of them could continue to ruin her birthday.

A series of soft knocks on the door, then, "Mija?"

Jackie inhaled deeply into her pillow, trying to block out the smell of the mildewed water from Zippy's flower. Her dress was ruined, no doubt. The door opened with a swoosh over the shag carpet. Esmeralda entered the room, pausing in the open doorway, surveying the lay of the land as one would when approaching a dying animal: with extreme caution.

"Mija, what happened?" Esme sat on the edge of the bed and patted Jackie's back. "Why you leave your party? Your guests, they miss you."

Jackie sat up suddenly, rubbing her hands hard over her cheeks. "My party is a disaster! My dress is ruined! And why would mother get that stupid clown? He's ruined everything!"

With this declaration, Jackie threw herself back into her pillows, scattering stuffed animals to the floor in her rush.

"Your party is not ruined, Princessa," Esme cooed, running her fingers through Jackie's curls. The soothing feel of Esme's soft fingers were enough to bring her out of her pillow solitude, but she still refused to make eye contact. Pam would criticize the state of her face, red and blotchy from crying. She was glad it was not her mother here now, giving comfort, as if Pam Burkhart knew how to give comfort.

Jackie fell into Esme's embrace, breathing deep the scent of yeast and cinnamon. Hiccupping dramatically, Jackie wrapping her arms around Esme's plump waist. "Nothing ever goes my way!"

"Princessa," Esmeralda began, pulling away from Jackie so they were looking in each other's eyes. Esme ran her thumbs under Jackie's eyes, but new tears soon took the shed one's place. "The world is made of many different people, not just you."

A scoff from Jackie, who shoved out of Esme's embrace and made her way to the en suite, slamming the door behind her with as much force as she could, the sound, she hoped echoing all the way down the Pam. She stood before the mirror, staring at her reflection, and staring at all her flaws. Her cheeks, which were too plump, but her pert nose and full lips were alright, she supposed. Her eyes were mismatched, maybe her best feature, a mixture of green and brown, but her eyebrows desperately needed to be plucked into submission and that definitely distracted from their overall allure.

"Jacqueline."

Jackie tore her gaze away from her reflection and to the closed door. Esme's soft knock reverberated through the tiled bathroom gently.

"What, Esmeralda?" Jackie snapped back.

"You haven't opened my gift yet, Princessa," Esme coaxed through the wooden barrier between them.

Jackie's ears pricked up at the thought. Another gift? Something else to open that would give an emotional gratification to their love of, she, herself, Jackie Burkhart?

"You brought me a gift?" Jackie said, moving away from the bathroom counter towards to door. There was a shuffling on the other side and Esme sighed heavily.

"Of course, I did, Princessa," Esme said. "Will you open the door now, por favor?"

Jackie hesitated for a moment, before unlocking the door and opening it to reveal Esme, standing close and who looked relieved at the sight of her.

Esmeralda held out her warm, soft hand, and said, "Come along, I will take you to your gift."

They walked together out of Jackie's room and down the hall to the back staircase, up to Esme's room at the back of the house, in the attic. Esme opened the door to her room and motioned for Jackie to sit on the bed.

Jackie looked around the room with interest. She had been in Esme's room before, of course, but she always found something new to study.

A simple cross bearing the body of Christ hung sentinel over the bed. On the oak desk were the Holy Bible and a hand mirror, sitting on a crotched doily with the statue of the Virgin Mary holding sentry over both. A set of rosary beads was sitting on the nightstand. Esme was at the dresser, rummaging through the top drawer, muttering in Spanish, finally producing a package wrapped in newspaper with a contented sigh.

Esme closed the dresser drawer with a snap and came to sit beside Jackie on the bed. She smiled at Jackie affectionately, holding out the package. "Por you, Princessa."

Jackie took the newspaper wrapped package. She sneered at the chosen wrapping, but smiled up at Esme all the same. With all the money her father paid for the hired help, you'd think Esmeralda could've splurged on decent wrapping paper.

"Open it!" Esme encouraged with another smile, albeit, an apprehensive one.

"Okay, okay," Jackie said.

She slit open the top of the package, then the bottom before sliding her index finger up the middle, breaking the scotch tape's hold on Mutt's, and The Family Circus, and revealing a brand new copy of Nancy Drew. _Nancy Drew, The Secret of the Old Clock._

Jackie felt an odd tugging in her chest. Her fingers ran over the hardcover binding, her eyes fixated on Nancy, crouched in the reeds with a grandfather clock and a screwdriver. Fresh tears threatened to fall over her bottom lashes. They clouded her vision and made her nose tingle as if she needed to sneeze.

"Are you happy, Princessa?" Esme asked softly, bringing her hand up to run through Jackie's curls.

"Oh, Esme," Jackie began.

She had talked about this series for months, bringing it up to both her mother and her father in turn. Nancy Drew was the talk of Jackie's class. Denise Michaels had bragged that she was definitely getting all the published copies for her birthday next month, but this, this gift from Esme, this was something different. This meant something, Jackie felt. This meant more than all the trivial gifts on display in the living room downstairs. This meant that someone out there did listen to what she had to say; someone cared to do so. Jackie's heart felt as though it would burst in her chest.

Neither her mother nor her father had bothered to listen to her birthday requests. Jackie fingered the gold locket that now hung around her neck. It felt empty compared to the book in her hands. An empty, cold metal.

"Thank you, Esme," Jackie whispered, avoiding Esmeralda's eyes as Jackie moved to envelope Esme in a hug, wrapping her arms tight about her waist. "I love it."

Esme saved and sent the majority of her paycheck back to her family in Mexico, keeping only a small amount for herself each month. She typically spent a bit on Jackie whenever they were out at the grocery store, a candy bar here and there, despite Pam's protests that Jackie had gained too much weight. Esme typically murmured in Spanish whenever Pam made these comments, though none of the Burkhart's understood a word she was saying. Spanish was a poor person's language.

"Now," Esmeralda said, holding Jackie at arms length, rubbing her thumbs beneath Jackie's eyes, and removing any trace of a tear that might have fallen. "I'm going to go back downstairs to the party, you come down when you're ready."

Jackie nodded her head in acquiescence, bouncing slightly when Esme's weight was removed from the mattress beside her. Esme paused at the door, smiling at Jackie before she shut the door to the room, leaving Jackie in isolation.

The attic was quiet. Jackie could just hear the echoes of her guests squealing with laughter in the yard and the sound of an engine starting up in the driveway. Jackie stood from the bed, clutching Nancy Drew to her chest, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Kelly Brown and her mother were coasting down the gravel drive in their cobalt blue Oldsmobile. A couple other party guests were standing around the front porch, conversing with one another, though Jackie noticed her mother was seemingly absent from these farewells.

After a few more moments of watching the drive, Jackie turned away, and left Esmeralda's room, closing the door with an easy snap in her wake. The narrow staircase cushioned her descent into the present and Jackie drew comfort from Nancy. She could be brave, and put on a confident face. No one had to know that that stupid clown and his water flower had ruined her party.

Jackie's patent Mary Jane's echoed on the wooden staircase and down the carpeted hallway towards her room. The muffled sounds of Esmeralda showing the guests out the foyer echoed off the parquet flooring and up the main stairs, but that wasn't what stopped Jackie at her door.

Her perfectly painted pink nails were wrapped around the round knob of her bedroom, yet Jackie stood rooted to the cream carpet outside her door.

Someone had moaned, quite wantonly, from the guest room next to Jackie's.

The foyer had grown quiet, but the strange sounds emanating from the room next door were too intriguing for Jackie to just let lie. She tip toed her way the few feet to the next door down from hers, pressing her ear to the cold wood once she was in front of it.

A wet, smacking sound was coming from inside the room. It sounded like someone was bringing a suction cup off of a flat surface, only over and over again. And there! Again was the moan! This was most certainly a mystery. Jackie looked down at Nancy Drew in her arms and breathed deeply. They'd solve it together.

As quietly as she could, Jackie turned the knob on the bedroom door. The bottom of the door whooshed against the shag carpet.

The scene that was laid out before Jackie had to be the most horrifying yet, maybe of all her eight long years on this Earth.

Zippy the Clown had her beautiful mother wrapped up in his arms, Pam's hands cradling the back of Zippy's bald head, keeping their locked lips and gyrating bodies from easily breaking contact. Pam moaned again, and Jackie gasped with horror, nearly dropping Nancy Drew to the ground.

Pam broke away from Zippy with a pop; his red face paint that had been painted around his lips and nose, now smeared across the bottom half of Pam's own face. Perhaps it would have been comical, had it been happening to someone else. But Pam Burkhart was a woman who had class, Jackie thought. She didn't make out with gross, disgusting clowns! Pam Burkhart was only supposed to make out with Jackie's father, end of story!

Zippy cleared his throat awkwardly, his overlarge shoes shuffling form side to side. Pam backed away, just slightly, but the damage was done. Jackie knew what she had seen. The smell of alcohol and Pam's perfume clouded the air, along with a musky scent Jackie couldn't quite place.

"I thought you said the kid wouldn't come looking for you," Zippy muttered, just loud enough for Jackie to hear. He shot Jackie a sidelong look of suppressed loathing and Jackie felt a new shudder run down her spine. "Man, I knew I should've found a job that didn't involve stinking kids."

Pam pressed a manicured hand to Zippy's chest, her eyes red with alcohol focused on Jackie, who stood rooted in the doorway. "Hush, Pete."

"Jacqueline," Pam started, her voice soft and sweet. She smiled, but the look was all wrong, what with the red face paint making Pam appear that she had eaten a corpse, it's blood dried to her skin. "Honey, dear. Why don't you go to your room? Mr. Zippy and I have some business to finish, and then, later, I'll be by to tuck you in for bed. Okay, sweetie?"

Pam approached Jackie then, placing her hands on Jackie's shoulders and gently pushing her from the room. The smile plastered on Pam's lips was like the ones on Jackie's new Barbie dolls: plastic and fake. Jackie stood in the hall for some time after Pam had closed the door on her. It was only when she heard the smacking noises of renewed kissing that prompted Jackie to tear off for her room, closing and locking the door.

Tears were absent as Jackie changed out of her party dress, leaving it crumpled on the floor where she had stepped out of it. Jackie pulled a long nightdress that reached her toes over her head and climbed into bed, opening Nancy Drew and staring at the black wording with unseeing eyes. She was still reliving the sight of Pam and Zippy locked in an embrace with increasing amounts of horror. The way her mother had looked pressed against that dirty clown, the one who had, of all things, ruined Jackie's birthday, had now ruined her mother.

Some time later, after Jackie had turned out the light on her night table, she heard the turn of a key in the lock and the sound of her door being pushed open. Jackie sat up, looking at the intruder, feeling only somewhat relieved that it was Pam's silhouette dark against the bright light in the hall. In her half sleep, she feared it might have been Zippy, come back to haunt her dreams.

"Baby?" Pam whispered, her slippered feet shuffling across the carpet as she approached the bed.

"Mama?" Jackie answered, sitting up fully. Pam sat on the bed close to Jackie, reaching out one of her hands to trace the edge of Jackie's face with one long finger.

"Jackie, there's something you need to know. Something my mother told me, when I was maybe about your age," Pam said, still whispering. The dark of Jackie's room felt like a soft blanket, as if Pam and Jackie were the only two people in the world and this conversation were the most important thing they would experience together. Jackie supposed, maybe it was.

"Yes, mama?" Jackie said, loving the way Pam's touch felt, wishing she would run her fingers through her hair like Pam would do when Jackie was younger.

Pam swallowed hard. There were tears coursing over her defined cheekbones, but she kept her focus on her daughter. "There's only one thing you need to look for in a man. Only one thing that matters. Are you listening to me, Jacqueline?"

Jackie nodded her head, her eyes boring into her mother. Pam hiccupped. She had the smell of booze on her still, and her words were coming out slurred.

"Find a man that loves you, Jacqueline. Preferably, one who's rich, but nonetheless, who loves you, for you."

Jackie's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Money was the only thing she had ever heard Pam describe as a defining factor in choosing a mate. Love had never seemed to come in much, but then, Jackie had always assumed that Pam was head over heels in love with Jack Burkhart, and in love with the fact that he was rich too.

Pam hiccupped once more, swallowing thickly. "Shop around, Jacqueline, don't settle on the first man with money that comes through. Shop around till you find the right one. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Jackie worried her mother was losing her mind, but spoke a quiet "yes" in reply.

"And even if he's not rich, as long as he loves you," Pam said. She turned away from Jackie, staring off into the dark room. "I knew he wasn't right for me, I knew it when I stood up on that altar, ready to say my vows. But I just couldn't back away. What would they think of me, if I'd suddenly run away?"

Pam turned back to Jackie, swaying on the bed. She patted Jackie's leg through the comforter and scooted her way closer, edging Jackie over on the mattress so she could lie down beside her. Jackie cuddled close to Pam, breathing deep the lingering scent Pam's perfume. Pam exhaled heavily, her eyes already closed.

"What you saw today, Jackie?" Pam started, wrapping her arms around Jackie's shoulders, pulling her close. "Let that be our little secret, baby. Don't tell Daddy."

"Okay, mama," Jackie whispered. But Pam had already begun to snore, having succumbed to the wine she had drunk all day.

Jackie burrowed down in the comfort of her mother's warm body, an array of emotions running through her. She was hurt, angry, sad, happy to be so close to Pam without having to initiate it herself. Above all, she was confused. This wasn't the first time Pam had come in her room, spouting drunken litanies for Jackie to absorb. But this was the one that baffled her the most.

Eventually, Jackie drifted off to a fitful sleep, waking from a nightmare where Zippy sprayed her repeatedly with putrid, warm water to find that Pam had turned away from her on the narrow mattress. Jackie huddled close to her mothers back, trying to draw some comfort from her dream, and closed her eyes again, ignoring the pounding of her heart against her ribs. The next time she woke, some hours later, Pam was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Old Man

Chapter Three

 _Lullabies, look in your eyes,_

 _Run around the same old town,_

 _Doesn't mean that much to me_

 _To mean that much to you_

April 1974

Point Place, Wisconsin, 8:30 p.m.

Steven drew hard on the end of one of Jack Burkhart's Cuban cigars, gazing around the dark, wood paneled room from behind tinted aviators. Smoke curled through the air in swirls, and Steven rolled the cigar between his thumb and forefinger, relaxing back in Jack's large leather chair, coughs racking his lungs on the exhale. Cigars tasted just like dirty socks, man, he much preferred the joints he and Uncle Don rolled most afternoon's before Edna came home from the high school.

The sleek study had two walls with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, each shelf lined with leather bound books, ferns in ornate oriental vases stood sentry in each of the four corners and in the very center of the room stood an oak desk to rival the one in the Oval Office. Steven had sauntered into Jack's office, feeling like a man who had wandered into Heaven. The room oozed power, and man, and, god help him, money.

Grimacing as bile rose in his throat from the putrid cigar, Steven rose from the leather arm chair and stamped the cigar out in a marble based, etched glass standing ashtray. Everything in this house was ornate. And ridiculous, Steven thought, leaving the study and making for the staircase off the foyer.

The Burkhart's had been gone for the past week, and each night Steven had jimmied the lock at the back door off the butler's pantry, letting himself into the house like it was his own.

He had gone through Jack Burkhart's closet, selecting a velvet trimmed smoking jacket, throwing it around his shoulders like a robe, breathing deep the lingering smell of Jack's cigars. Steven had run his fingers over each of the crystal perfume bottles that littered Pam's counter in the large marble bathroom, spraying a mist and leaving behind the scent of Paris lilies and vanilla, as if Pam had just left the room, her thick hair swinging over her bronzed shoulders. Her makeup brushes were soft on the palms of his hands, her tube of lipstick was like creamed roses, soft and supple as he drew the pigment across the back of his hand. He imagined Pam had kissed it, leaving behind the thick, red shade.

The bed was the perfect mixture of hard and soft, with two defined imprints on opposite sides where the occupants slept. Steven climbed to the very center, lying back in the plush pillows. Pictures of their daughter, Jackie, cluttered Jack's nightstand, along with black leather bound journals that held an assortment of numbers and abbreviated letters and names Steven couldn't place. Fashion magazines were stacked pell-mell on Pam's nightstand; a black and white wedding photo of Pam and Jack was turned away from the bed, facing out towards the room. Their smiles were deep and genuine; arms wrapped tight about the others waists, flutes of champagne clutched in their fingers.

 _This bed feels too big,_ Steven thought, a bark of a laugh escaping his lips as he realized what had just crossed his mind.

Steven swept through the room, taking in everything with a trained eye, tallying the more expensive items for what he could barter them on Point Place's elusive black market. Pam kept her jewelry in a large wooden box, inlayed with mother of pearl, just right out in the open, strings of pearls and diamond earrings spilling out the lid and lying across the dark wood of her dresser. The top drawer held silk panties and nightgowns, and Steven let them slip through his fingers like water, his cheeks burning hot at the thought that these fabrics had at one point hugged the curve of Pam's breast, his pants growing tight at the thought of them hugging the apex of her sex.

He had gone through the two guest bedrooms quickly, opening the door that led to the attic and then immediately closing it again. The wide black mouth of the attic called to him and scared him at the same time, not that he'd ever admit it out loud; he'd seen enough horror films to know what happened in dark attics when no one else was home. You got fucking murdered and dismembered by some disfigured family member no one else acknowledged, yet kept around, like some kind of circus freak.

At Jackie's open door, he paused, taking in the pink catastrophe with a sneer. Of the three nights he had broke into the Burkhart's mansion, he had avoided this room like the plague. Jackie was an enigma, and he was desperate to never admit to the fact that he frequently dreamed of her naked in his bed, writhing under his touch.

Stepping into Jackie's room was like stepping into a private oasis, one that offered insight into Jackie's personality with open palms, beseeching Steven to save them from drowning into oblivion. Her bed was made; the comforter pulled tight, not a crease in the fabric. A collection of records and 45's were organized alphabetically on one shelf of her large white bookcase, and Steven flipped through them with a critical eye.

Barbara Streisand, Elvis, ABBA and Olivia Newton-John, among many others that Steven found he hated. Steven shook ABBA from its cardboard case and slipped it onto the player, setting the needle to the first song and continuing his inventory of her room.

 _My, my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender  
Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way  
The history book on the shelf  
Is always repeating itself_

A much dog-eared copy of Nancy Drew was resting on the nightstand. Her desk drawers were filled with stickers of smiley faces and unicorns, glitter pencils and a small, purple bound book emblazoned _My Diary_ and locked against intruders. Steven fingered the lock pick in his pocket before deciding against reading the diary, tossing it back into the desk drawer haphazardly. That was one territory he did not feel like unearthing tonight.

Steven stepped into the en-suite, running the tips of his fingers down the marble counter. Cosmo and Glamour magazines were scattered on the counter, interspaced with bottles of nail polish and Maybelline eye shadows. The horsehair brush was tangled with long strands of curly black hair. Steven picked up a bottle of perfume, spraying a mist as he had done with Pam's own perfume, breathing deep gardenia and bergamot. He didn't like to admit how much that he enjoyed the sweet scent.

Feeling ever just like a stalker psycho, Steven picked up a gold locket left on the marble countertop, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the cool metal, reading the initials etched into the smooth surface, before sneaking it into the front pocket of his jeans, where it chimed against his lock pick.

Ever since Kelso had brought his new girlfriend down to the basement, Steven had been planning some method of revenge, stealing her necklace seemed exact enough. Jackie Burkhart had walked into their lives and quickly wrecked havoc. She turned up her nose at the musty smell mixed with that of damp earth and incense. When it turned out there wasn't any ABBA to be had in the whole house, she plopped onto the couch and proceeded to pout for the next twenty minutes while Kelso attempted to soothe her by repeatedly telling her how pretty she was, and how much he loved her, loved her, loved her. Once Jackie was satisfied with Michael's accolades, she then proceeded to moan about how she would be without him for two weeks while she traveled with her family to visit her grandparents on Long Island.

Steven was only all too happy to be leaving Forman's basement for his own home, if only to be getting away from her, that beguiling creature he wanted to strangle to death.

 _My, my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger  
Oh yeah, and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight  
And how could I ever refuse  
I feel like I win when I lose_

Steven left the en suite and sat on Jackie's bed, staring around at the posters cluttering the walls. A small TV was perched across from him on the bureau and Steven felt his fingers itching to take it with him when he made his exit tonight. He knew just the spot it would fill in his mostly bare room. Leaning back on Jackie's bed, relaxing into the soft duvet, he closed his eyes and tried to calm his roiling stomach. Cigars really did not agree with him.

 _This bed feels just right,_ Steven smirked, sinking deeper into the pillows.

The record player had clicked, it's arm rising from the record and swinging back into its resting place long before Steven jerked awake, rubbing at his eyes and looking around at the alarm clock for the time. Forty-five minutes had come and gone and Steven swung his legs off the bed, sighing deeply as he rose, leaving the comforter disheveled, and pillows threatening to spill off to the floor. Let Jackie figure that one out.

Making one last cursory lap of Jackie's room, the "Love is Forever and Ever" poster over the head board, a picture of Michael in a white frame plastered with red and pink heart stickers, Steven left the ABBA record on the player, its case spread open on top of her desk, and flipped off the light switch, closing the door on Jackie with a resounding thud.

The stairs creaked under his boots as he made his way down to the first floor, but that wasn't what stopped him cold in his tracks. A pair of headlights swept across the foyer, as a car pulled up the gravel drive, engine rumbling.

"Shit," Steven muttered under his breath, caught like a deer, unsure if he should flee up the stairs or down.

A car door slammed and Steven, panicked, tore down the last half of the flight of stairs, his Frye boots pounding down the steps, and rounding the banister like a stock car driver, slipping on the Persian rug as he skidded into the living room, easing the sliding heavy wooden doors closed just as the front door swung opened.

"I don't see why we had to leave Mother's early, Jack!" Pam burst out, her heels echoing across the parquet flooring. Her voice was thick with emotion, and Steven imagined fat tears pulling tracks of mascara over her cheeks. Steven pressed his ear to the wooden door, heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest, listening for approaching footsteps.

"You were kissing the pool boy, Pamela! You were practically humping him in front of everyone!" Jack burst in response, his shoes a staccato after his wife. "I've been a very lenient man, but this has gone too far."

"Oh, what do you care?" Pam spat back, her stomps retreating up the staircase. Thirty seconds passed, though it felt like thirty hours to Steven crouched in the living room like the intruder he was, and then Jack tore up the stairs after his wife, the bedroom door pinging off the wall as it was swung open, muffled shouting emanating from the deep depths of the house.

Steven briefly wondered where Jackie was, wondered if she had been subjected to this all the way home from Long Island. He brought his ear away from the door, and looked about the living room, sighing with relief when his eyes landed on the double French doors leading to the patio. His main method of entry and departure was through the butler's pantry, and he held his breath, praying the French doors opened as quietly.

The backyard was cool, the grass wet, soaking the hem of his jeans as he ran across the lawn towards the main road. Pedestal lamps lit up the garden path and Steven followed it's light in a crouch, glancing up every now and then at the house.

He had just made it to the fence, hands clutching the metal poles when he heard his name called out to him.

"Steven?"

Jackie was sitting in the backseat of the car, the door open, her feet planted firmly on the gravel drive. She looked as surprised to see him, as she had been to speak his name.

Steven held her gaze, his hands still gripping the metal bars of the fence. "Hey, Jackie."

Jackie stood from the car, rubbing the palms of her hands beneath her eyes in quick strokes, pulling the hem of her shirt down as if in nervous habit. She looked up to the house and then back to Steven, her face devoid of emotion. Her arms crossed firmly over her chest as she assessed Steven. Jackie shuffled her shoes, creating deep grooves in the pebbled drive.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice quavering. She pointed an accusing finger at Steven, her voice rising to a shrill yell. "Are you here to rob us?"

"Jackie!" Steven said, making shushing noises with his hands. He backed away from the fence, advancing towards her slowly. "Hush, man, I'm not here to rob ya."

"Then what are you doing here?" Jackie's voice will still too shrill, someone was bound to hear her before long. Steven glanced behind her at the house, but neither her father nor her mother seemed likely to make a reappearance any time soon.

"Oh, you know," Steven pushed his fists into his jean pockets, looking away across the yard. Jackie's necklace felt like molten metal against his closed fingers. "Just casing the place. Wanted to see how the other side lives."

Jackie snorted, looking up at Steven through her lashes. "And? What do you think?"

Steven shrugged his shoulders. His heart was still pounding in his chest and Steven exhaled harshly, not wishing to tell Jackie just what exactly he had overheard in the house. "I mean, I don't think it's for everyone."

"Right," Jackie said, turning back to the Lincoln and slamming the passenger door closed. "Look, Steven, I don't care what it is you're doing here right now, but I think it's time for you to leave."

"Yeah, sure," Steven said, softly. Jackie smoothed the hem of her shirt, tugging it tight over her hips. Steven took a step towards her, stopping cold when Jackie turned her burning gaze on him. "You ok?"

Jackie puffed her cheeks, measuring Steven with narrowed eyes. She planted her hands on her hips and tapped her foot in thought.

"Jackie?" Steven asked tentatively.

She exhaled hard, running her hands through her curly hair making it frizz and stand on end, and turned away from Steven. Jackie made her way up the gravel drive, her arms pumping at her sides, fists clenched, and called over her shoulder, "I'm fine. I'll see you later, Hyde."

-x-

The lights were off at the Hyde household when Steven walked up the overgrown lawn to the porch. Edna and Uncle Don were either out or they were passed out, entwined on the couch. Steven was betting on the latter.

Steven entered the house and quietly as he could, given that the house groaned like a prostitute at the slightest breeze.

Edna and Uncle Don were curled like cats on the couch, each focusing red-rimmed eyes on the television, passing a lit joint between one another. Uncle Don took a hit, his eyes shifting to Steven standing in the doorway.

"Hey, kid, was wondering where you were," Don said, passing the blunt back to Edna. He ran his fingers through Edna's hair as she drew deep on the joint, staring at Steven.

Edna held out the joint to Steven, beckoning him closer. Steven stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what move to make. Edna knew he smoked, knew that he and Don rolled joints together, and even that Steven dealt to the other kids in school, but they had never addressed this matter together. Steven pondered if this was a trick: he looked out to the porch, trying to remember where he had last stashed the sleeping bag that wasn't moth eaten.

"Steven?" Edna questioned, her voice soft. She was fully focused on him now, having risen from Don's body. The joint was still perched between her pointer finger and thumb, half raised in Steven's direction.

"Yeah, sorry," Steven said, stepping into the room. He took the joint from Edna and brought it to his lips. Edna smiled at Steven, drawing back into Don's embrace, curling her bare legs around Don's. "I was just with Forman and Kelso, hanging out."

"You missed dinner," Edna stated.

Steven exhaled the thick, sweet smoke. "I already ate, Ma."

Don reached for the joint and Steven passed it to him, taking a seat on the floor, resting back against the couch comfortably. Johnny Carson was on, and the audience laughed along with a joke that Steven had missed.

"Man, Carson is the best," Don said, shifting his weight under Edna, drawing on the blunt and holding it out to Edna, who waved it away, then to Steven who took it eagerly.

"Yeah, man, sure," Steven agreed, toking hard.

A comfortable silence fell over the three-some. Steven leaned his head back on the cushions, sliding down the rat-chewed carpet, the joint long finished. His eyes were just sliding closed when he felt thin fingers touch his shoulder tentatively. He kept his eyes closed and regulated his breathing.

Edna brought her fingers to Steven's curly hair and slowly began to massage his scalp, moving in small circles about his skull. Steven couldn't remember the last time Edna had touched him that wasn't a slap or blow. He let himself relax, his fingers pressing against the locket, metal warm, in his pocket.

Jackie was there, in the run down house with him, Steven could feel her presence. She invaded every pore of his being, and Steven didn't fight her. He felt her hair brush his neck, the weight of her head on his shoulder. Gardenia and bergamot ensnared his senses. She curled against his body, rubbing herself against him and Steven sighed in content. Jackie Burkhart would be the end of him, he knew it, could feel it in his bones. She would chew him up and spit him out, leaving behind a pulpy mess like a used piece of gum still slick with saliva. His body light, Edna's fingers working their way across his scalp, Steven found he didn't mind the thought of Jackie destroying him so much. Jackie truly was Satan's Child, as Eric insisted. She did things to ya, made you crazy. She made you stupid.


	4. Chapter 4

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Three**

 _Try to get yourself a bargain, girl  
Don't you be sold on the very first one  
Good looking guys come a dime a dozen  
Try to find you one who's gonna give you true lovin_

April 1974,

11:10 pm

Steven Hyde had been in her room. Not only had he been in her room, he had _touched her things._ The room oozed of poor, cigar smoke, and Led Zeppelin. Jackie didn't think she would ever be able to get rid of the stench.

Jackie leaned back against her closed bedroom door, her wide eyes surveying the room, her chest rising and falling in a pant. Her mother and father's voices were muffled, fluctuating in pitch, but Jackie found she couldn't bring herself to care so much about their argument now, or about Paulo, Grandmother's pool boy, the other half of the equation to their hasty departure from Long Island. Her fingers spread against the smooth grain of her door, her heart pounding in her chest; Jackie felt anger begin to course through her veins.

ABBA was open on her turntable; the cardboard sleeve open atop her desk and her bed was a ruffled mess, her pink and green flower pillows threatening to spill onto the floor. Jackie strode to her desk in two quick strides, pulling open her desk drawer, scattering pencils and sticker pages in her wake, and recovered her diary. The lock bore no evidence of having been tampered with, but that didn't mean Steven hadn't gotten past its weak defenses. He had broken into the house with, seemingly, no problems, after all.

Clutching the diary to her chest, Jackie spun in a small circle, looking for anything else out of place. Nancy Drew was cockeyed on the night table; the picture of Michael was turned away, facing off towards the wall.

Jackie felt violated. Exposed. No matter of the fact that Steven having been in her room made her heart race with a feeling Jackie wasn't sure she felt comfortable admitting to, she was, most of all, livid.

Who did he think he was, coming into her private oasis and snooping through her things like he had a right to them? His dirty, hippie fingers had no right touching her pretty, rich belongings. Jackie threw the diary onto the bed, a scream of indignation rising in her throat. She had half a mind to march over to his home and give him a piece of her mind. She picked up one of the flower pillows and threw it as hard as she could against the door, the other quickly following. Feeling somewhat better, Jackie pushed her hair from her face.

She needed a Calgon bath, and a facial, stat. Jackie spun towards the en suite, but stopped at the bathroom door, peering into the pink tiled room with narrowed eyes. _Steven had been in here too._

Her perfume bottle was uncapped, but otherwise, nothing seemed to be out of place. What had he done, sprayed her scent onto his wrists, so he could smell it like some kind of psychopath, breathing deep her scent and imagining all the things he would do to her? Jackie shuddered, a thrill racing down her spine. The hairs on her arms rose to attention. How much of a sicko was this kid? Poor people were all degenerates.

"No, no, keep it together, Jacqueline," she whispered, starting the bath, testing the water's temperature with her fingers. Jackie kept glancing over her shoulder, half expecting Steven to be there in the doorway, leaning against the frame and smirking at her from behind those stupid sunglasses.

The tub filled, with bubble bath cascading it's suds over the edges, Jackie sunk into its depths, cringing only slightly at the scalding water on her skin. Burning away the feeling of Steven was the only solution she could think to this problem. If only she could burn him out of her memory completely, then all of her life's issues would be solved.

-x-

November 1976

Point Place High School

"Go! Fight! Win tonight! Boogie down! Alright! Alright!"

Jackie raised her green and white pom-poms high over her head, whooping with Kelly Brown and Kat Peterson from either side of her.

This was her first Varsity football game, and she, as the only freshman on the varsity squad, Jackie found she was desperate to prove herself, not only to the cheer captain, Sharon, but also to Michael and the rest of the gang, perched high up in the stands. They had never come to a football game before, at least, not that she was aware of, and yet, here they were. Watching her. Well, Michael was at least. And the foreigner, but he always watched her, barely concealing his desire. Jackie refused to acknowledge the other pair of eyes she felt on her, prickling her skin with their intensity. Or animosity, Jackie wasn't sure which.

Buck Compton scored a touchdown, and the crowd went wild. Jackie scrambled into position as the girls staggered for their next cheer. She shook her pom-poms and lifted her voice to match, if not extend, the pep of the girls to right and left. She put her all into the movements, a smile etched on her lips, trying in vain to not focus all of her attention on her new friends, and boyfriend, in the top row.

Jackie tossed her pom-poms to the ground and came to stand beside Kat and Kelly who had joined hands facing one another. Jackie gripped their shoulders, stepping into their palms. Kat and Kelly counted down, and then Jackie was in the air. She kicked her legs into a split, touching her toes, quickly snapping together so Kelly and Kat could catch her, depositing her safely back to the gravel track.

Michael wrapped his hands around his mouth and cat-called down to Jackie, who kicked her right leg high in response, eliciting another cat call from her boyfriend. She chanced another glance up at the stands. Donna was absorbed on the game, while Eric, was focused solely on Donna. Fez's gaze slid from girl to girl, both cheering and in the stands, which was only to be expected. Michael waved to Jackie as he caught her eye, then, sunk into conversation with Fez to his right. But Steven didn't look away when they made eye contact. His aviators were perched in his shirt pocket and as they stared one another down, he unclipped them from his clothing, sliding them onto his face and concealing his eyes.

Jackie turned away, her cheeks heating. She bent at the waist and scooped up her pom-poms.

"Quit being stupid, Burkhart," Jackie reprimanded, hands planted on her hips. The air had a chill to it, and gooseflesh rose on her bare legs, but Jackie turned her attention back to the game.

Football was perhaps the only sport she found she could easily watch, as long as she was personally at the game. On TV, and Jackie found her thoughts wandering more readily to her hair, or her nails, or, as occurred more regularly now, to Michael, and to kissing him, and to the thought that sometime soon she would give herself to him completely, and they would be joined forever and ever in the gift of their bodies.

The Viking's scored a touchdown and Rick Stephenson came up for the field goal, raising his fist to the air as he took his starting run. The whole of the stadium was silent, the sound of the football making contact with Rick's foot resounded across the field, and then as it crossed the white goal, a cheer arose from the crowd. People stood from their seats and stomped their feet on the metal bleachers.

The Viking's were up by thirteen points, with only three minutes left in the game.

"Alright ladies, set up for 'Rock 'Em'!" Sharon called from the center of the group of girls.

Jackie took her place at the end, elbows at right angles, her hands planted on her hips and gripping her pom-poms with sweating fingers. She bowed her head, focusing on the red gravel of the track surrounding the football field and briefly closed her eyes as Sharon counted down.

"5, 6, 7, 8. Ready? OK!"

"Hey Point Place Vikings, you know what they say, you gotta rock with the white, and roll with the green!"

Jackie snapped her heels together, rolling her hips provocatively in a circle. Kat Peterson exaggerated her movement, licking her lips as she did so. Jackie heard someone call a suggestive remark and quickly sought out to see if it was Michael. He was laughing, knocking shoulders with Fez.

Shaking her pom-poms at her hips, Jackie cheered through the chant again, her eyes trained on her friends. Fez, Michael and Steven were punching one another on the arms, calling louder and louder as Kat swung her hips more suggestively with each move of the cheer. Michael brought his hands before his chest, miming holding a pair of breasts, bouncing with movement. Jackie stepped hard forward for the end, swinging deep into a dip of her hip, heat burning her cheeks. She was loath to admit that her breasts hardly moved from her movement.

Jackie turned her back to the stands, determined to not give Michael another second of her time. Her heart pounded in her chest and she shook her arms, pom-poms rustling, trying to work out the tension that had settled across her shoulders. Michael had always looked at other girls, was known for making out with any girl who threw herself at him at a party, uggo's excluded, and yet Jackie had got it into her mind that once they became official, her love for him would be enough to keep his attention exclusively on her, and her alone. Michael was here to watch her cheer, not rich and skanky Kat Peterson gyrate on the track.

The scoreboard buzzed the end of the game, and Jackie and the rest of the cheerleaders ran onto the field, clinging to the first football player from Point Place they made contact with and cheering their victory. Jackie sought out the defensive end, knowing he had been crushing hard on her since he had first seen her practicing her high kicks, smiling broadly when they made eye contact. Davey wrapped Jackie up into his sweaty embrace, planting a kiss on her cheek and swinging her through the air in a twirl.

 _That ought to teach Michael,_ Jackie thought, hoping he was watching, squealing as Davey squeezed her tighter.

Davey set Jackie down on the thick grass of the field and leaned in even closer. "There's going to be a celebration party at the reservoir. You going to be there?"

Jackie looked back at the stands; the gang was making their way down the bleachers to the track, Michael's gaze trained solely on Jackie standing so close to Davey. Jackie placed her hand on Davey's shoulder and stepped close, angling her pelvis near to his. "I just have to tell the gang, but, yeah, we'll be there."

"Cool, I'll see you there, then," Davey said, following behind the rest of the team off the field towards the locker rooms.

Jackie made her way back to the track, smiling and waving to a few of her friends from class. Michael had his arms crossed over his chest and was waiting by Jackie's cheer bag, her fur jacket draped over the top. Jackie tossed her pom-poms onto the ground and picked up her jacket, draping it over her arm. Putting it on now would only get Davey's sweat all over it and ruin the fabric.

"Hey, Michael," Jackie said, motioning to her cheer bag and pom-poms. Michael scooped up the items, slinging the strap of her cheer bag over his shoulder. "There's a party at the reservoir, if you and the guys don't have any plans."

"Is Davey going to be there?" Michael asked, matching Jackie's pace as she started off towards Donna, Eric and Fez. Steven was nowhere to be found, a fact, Jackie was happy to admit, didn't bother her so much. Having Steven there to listen to another one of her and Michael's arguments would be all the fodder Steven would need for a multitude of burns Jackie did not feel like enduring.

"I assume so, Michael, he is on the football team," Jackie replied.

Michael smiled. "Good, I've been meaning to have a talk with him. He's being too friendly to you."

"Michael, I'm allowed to have friends. Davey is _just_ a friend."

"He looks at you like he's picturing you naked. I mean, I do it all the time, but that doesn't mean he can too," Michael said.

"That's gross, Michael, he does not picture me naked!" Jackie said, smacking her open palm across Michael's bicep. "And besides, I'm hot, I can't help it if he's noticed."

"Your cheers are very erotic, no?" Fez said by way of greeting once Jackie had reached them. "They make me tingly in the pants."

The gang made their way out of the stadium towards the parking lot and the Vista Cruiser. Michael threw Jackie's cheer bag and pom-poms into the back, before looking up and around the parking lot.

"Where's Hyde? Haven't seen him since we got to the track," Michael said, coming to stand next to Eric and Donna at the hood of the car.

Jackie found her gaze roaming the parking lot with the others.

"He's probably off with some cheerleader under the bleachers," Eric said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Let's just leave him here," Jackie threw out, coming to stand close to Michael's side.

"Give him a few minutes, it's cold to be walking tonight," Donna said, leaning against the hood of the car.

Jackie sighed audibly, shoving her arms into the sleeves of her coat. The air had dried Davey's sweat to her skin, leaving behind a salty film. Cars honked as they left the lot, turning left onto Green Bay Road towards the reservoir. Davey flashed his lights on his pickup when he passed by the Cruiser and Jackie waved enthusiastically, feeling Michael stiffen next to her. Jackie smirked. Two could play the jealousy game. Michael had no clue what he was getting himself into.

Steven made his grand appearance once the parking lot was nearly empty, his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket. He jogged across the lot and greeted his friends.

"Sorry guys, let's get going," Steven said, coming to the back of the Cruiser. Donna and Eric squeezed into the front along with Fez. Jackie found herself nestled between Michael and Steven in the backseat.

"What kept you, man?" Eric asked, starting up the Cruiser. Donna leaned forward, slipping a Boston 8-track into the player, adjusting the volume of the radio.

Hyde brought his left hand from his coat pocket, shaking out a baggie of rolled joints. "Had a little business to attend to."

"Awe sweet! Let's get one going!" Michael said, leaning around Jackie.

Eric glanced in the rearview mirror, pulling out onto the main road. "Guys, I don't know if it's a good idea to do that while I'm driving. What if a cop pulls me over?"

"Crack the windows," Donna said, turning backwards in her seat to face the backbench.

Michael and Steven cracked their windows, letting in a stream of cold air. Steven lit the joint, blowing out the burned end, brushing the paper that fell from his torn jeans.

"It's too cold," Jackie complained, crossing her arms tight over her stomach.

Steven passed the joint across Jackie to Michael. Jackie waved a hand in front of her face, dispelling the sweet smoke that drifted towards her nostrils.

"Don't be such a baby," Donna said, watching as Michael took his toke, then passed to Donna, who drew hard on the joint.

"Can't you roll up the window just a bit, so not so much air comes in? My hair is going to be a tangled mess," Jackie said, shaking her dark hair over her shoulders.

"Just brush it out," Steven said, watching Fez take his hit from the passenger seat. Fez passed the joint behind him to Steven, the latter of whom ignored the incredulous look Jackie fixed him with.

"Just _brush it out_?" Jackie screeched. Donna groaned in the front seat, leaning forward and turning up the radio. "You don't just _brush out_ hair like mine, Hyde."

Steven brought the joint to his lips, studying Jackie from behind his aviators. Exhaling a lungful into Jackie's face, Steven brought his left hand up and ran his fingers through her hair, sending the curls into a frizzed mess.

"Steven!" Jackie cried, slapping his hand away. "Michael! Did you see what he did?"

"Jackie, calm down," Eric said from the front, cracking the driver's window to give the smoke a third outlet. "Dogs can hear you in Michigan."

Michael started to laugh, fingering the ends of Jackie's hair. "You look like a poodle on this side."

"You buffoon!" Jackie exclaimed, slapping him hard in the stomach. Kelso grunted, but kept laughing, crossing his arms over his stomach.

Eric was compulsively watching the rearview and side mirrors as they neared the reservoir. A line of cars was pulling into the grass lot of the reservoir, parking in a semi-circle facing the dark water. Eric parked the Cruiser, and the gang spilled out in a residual cloud of smoke. Hyde finished the blunt, tossing it to the ground and stamping it out with the toe of his boot.

"All right Fez, let's go make some money," Hyde said, clapping Fez on the shoulder and patting the baggie of joints back in his coat pocket.

Jackie watched the pair disappear into a crowd of their classmates, then turned the other way. Steven had ruined her hair; she wasn't going to let him ruin the rest of her night too.

Michael threw his arm around Jackie's shoulder, pulling her roughly to his side. "Come on sweet cheeks, there's a keg over that-a-way."

They followed Eric and Donna to a separate group of classmates gathered around a keg and got in line for cups. Jackie pouted, looking off over the water. Nothing tonight had felt right, or gone her way. Michael wasn't asking her what was wrong, and had angered her in his attention to the other cheerleaders; Steven had ruined her hair, which she had spent the better part of the afternoon curling into submission, and now that she was here at the party, she found she desperately wanted to be at home, despite the fact that all these people would surely benefit from her company. She was Jackie Burkhart; she owed these people her presence.

Eric filled two cups with frothy beer, handing one to Donna with a small smile. They began to talk quietly, absorbed in one another and walked back to the car. Michael poured himself a cup of beer, and followed Eric and Donna back towards the Cruiser, leaving Jackie to manage on her own.

Jackie watched him saunter off, hating the way his perfect hair fluttered in the slight breeze. She muttered under her breath, "Jerk," taking up the tap and pouring a foamy beer. "Ugh!"

"Need some help?"

Jackie spun around, coating her hand in foam. Davey laughed, then handed her a bandana from his back pocket. "Here. I'll pour you a new beer."

"Thank you," Jackie said, smiling broadly. She poured her beer on the ground, handing the cup to Davey to refill. "Michael is being such a jerk."

"Where is Michael?" Davey, said, looking around the party for Jackie's boyfriend. He handed Jackie a full beer and smiled at her, his eyes glancing over her bare legs in her cheer skirt, and up to her mouth. "Did he just drop you off or something?"

"Huh?" Jackie said, sipping at her beer. She didn't usually drink beer, it being a poor person's beverage, along with making you fat, but tonight was a night that needed alcohol. "Oh, no, he's here. He's over there, somewhere."

Jackie waved her hand in the direction of the Cruiser, then made her way down to the waters edge. Davey followed, a full beer in his own hand.

"Did you see the spectacular tackle I made, just at the last minute?" Davey said once they'd reached the water's edge. Jackie toed the muddy bank with the tip of her saddle shoe, her mind drifting off as Davey launched into a blow-by-blow account of the game they had both just been at.

"Hey!"

Jackie and Davey, startled, turned around to find Michael charging towards them.

"Hey! Stay away from Jackie, she's _my_ girlfriend."

"Michael!" Jackie cried, walking towards him. "Don't! He wasn't doing anything, he's just being nice!"

"What's your problem, man?" Davey asked, coming to stand behind Jackie, his gaze trained on Michael.

The party crowd was growing quiet around them, waiting with bated breath. Eric and Donna appeared, breathless, pushing their way to the front of the circle that was quickly congregating around the trio.

"What's my problem? You're trying to make a move on my woman," Michael said, pushing Jackie away. Jackie stumbled over a root, gasping as she fell backwards. A pair of hands grabbed her under her armpits, just before she crashed to the ground and pushed her upright again. Steven patted Jackie on the shoulder, and shouldered past her, hooking his thumbs in the top of his jeans, around his belt buckle.

"Your woman, huh? Doesn't look like you care too much about what happens to her, if you ask me," Davey said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah?" Michael countered. "Well, I most. Certainly. Do."

"Could've fooled me," Davey said. Michael made to lunge at Davey, his curled fist raised.

"All right, ladies, let's just cool it," Steven said, stepping into the circle. "Someone can get hurt, like Kelso, then the cops come, and no more party."

A murmur rose from the crowd, and most people began to disperse, some heading back to the keg for refills, others to small circles where Steven had obviously already been to dole out joints. Michael and Davey nodded their heads, never breaking eye contact.

"Stay away from her," Michael threatened, pointing at Davey over Steven's shoulder.

Davey waved his hand in dismissal, turning and walking the opposite way. "She's not worth it, anyway."

Jackie harrumphed, knocking Steven's shoulder as she stomped past, and tapped Davey, hard, on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but I am so worth it! Haven't you looked at me? Hello! I'm Jackie Burkhart. You are the one who isn't worth it. You… you boring meathead!"

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Eric observed as Davey made his way over to a group of his teammates.

Michael wrapped his arm around Jackie's shoulder, planting a wet kiss on her lips. "What say you reward your handsome boyfriend, huh, Jackie?"

"You're a pig," Jackie shoved out from under Michael's arm and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.

"A pig for you, baby!" Michael said, scooping Jackie up in his embrace and nuzzling her neck, oinking into her skin. Jackie began to laugh, despite her anger, pushing against Michael's shoulders. Michael wiggled his fingers about her ribs, eliciting shrill shrieks of laughter. "Oink! Oink!"

"This calls for another circle!" Steven called, raising his fist in a salute into the air, causing Michael to drop Jackie back to her feet. "For Kelso, not getting the shit kicked out of him!"

"For Kelso!" Donna and Eric echoed, raising their fists into the air.

"What? No! I could totally take Davey Thompson!" Kelso said, taking off after the trio. Jackie followed at a small distance.

Steven led them back down to the waters edge, pulling Fez away by the collar from a group of girls on the way. "Ai! Hyde! I was so close!"

"Believe me man, you were no where near 'close'," Steven said, perching on a fallen log. A small fire was already burning, and the gang gathered around, perching on stumps and large rocks. A car nearby was blasting The Eagles, Don Henley's voice filling the air. Steven lit a joint from his pocket, inhaling deeply and passing to his left to Kelso.

Jackie observed her friends as they passed the joint one to another, breaking randomly into song, half-listening to Michael and scowling at Steven as he described a girl he had met at The Hub with jugs the size of watermelons. He held his hands before his chest and made a lewd face.

"We've got a date tomorrow night," Steven told Michael and Fez.

"So you're finally going to do it!" Fez exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

Steven's sunglass covered eyes blinked up at Jackie, reflecting the firelight, then back to Fez. "That's the general idea. God could only have made jugs that big for one reason."

"Men are all such animals," Donna burst out. She looked to Eric on their shared rock and shoved him off the edge.

"Ow! Donna," Eric stood, brushing fallen leaves and dirt from his jeans. "What was that for?"

"For being such a disgusting animal!" Donna exclaimed, taking the joint from Fez and toking hard.

Eric eased back onto the rock beside Donna. "But, I love you."

Donna passed the joint to Eric and smiled. "I love you too. You disgusting animal."

-x-

Michael had his head on Jackie's shoulder, snoring softly, as Eric drove them back into town. Steven was drumming his fingers on his thigh beside her and Jackie found her eyes trained on them, her annoyance growing. Donna had put on a Zeppelin 8-track and Steven had proceeded to either hum or drum to each and every song, much to Jackie's chagrin.

"Alright, Fez, buddy, you may exit the vehicle," Eric said, pulling to the curb before Fez's house. Fez clambered out of the car, waving back at the gang when he got to the front door. Donna brought her legs up to Fez's vacated seat, wrapping Eric's arm about her shoulder and curling against his side.

They drove in silence down Magnolia and onto Lemon Blossom. Steven began to drum both of his hands on his thighs, tapping out the opening guitar riff to Over the Hills and Far Away, his hands slapping harder and harder against his legs as the song progressed. Jackie felt a twitch start above her right eyebrow.

Michael snorted, mumbling in response to his dream. He brought his hand to Jackie's leg and curled his fingers around her thigh, close to the apex of her sex. Jackie shifted, pushing his hand down her thigh.

Eric hooked a left onto Michael's street, bringing the Cruiser to a stop in front of a modest sized house, with a yard littered with toys. "Alright Kelso! Wakey wakey!"

Steven reached around Jackie and thumped Kelso hard on his forehead. Michael jerked awake with another snort. Steven returned to his role as John Bonham, as if nothing had happened. Michael blinked, looking around and then up at the house. "Oh, right, thanks Forman. Jackie, I'll call you later."

Michael kissed Jackie sloppily before sliding out of the backseat. Jackie touched her fingers to her lips, trying to inconspicuously wipe away the spit left on her skin. She slid across the bench seat, taking Michael's still warm seat. Jackie perched her elbow on the door handle, staring out at the still night. Eric took off down the street, heading for his house two blocks over.

"Wait!" Jackie called, sitting straight. "Where are you going? My house is the other way!"

"I am well aware," Eric said, turning onto his street.

Steven continued to drum his hands against his thighs, singing softly under his breath.

"But, how am I supposed to get home?" Jackie was staring hard at the back of Eric's head.

"The bus? I don't know, don't care," Eric replied, pulling the Cruiser into the drive.

"The bus?" Jackie screeched.

"I'll walk with you, Jackie," Steven said before climbing out of the car. He came around to the driver's side and waited for her to get out the Cruiser. "I live that way anyway."

Jackie scowled at Steven, slamming the car door shut. "Fine."

Donna mumbled her goodbyes, yawning as she made her way next door. Forman called a goodnight to Jackie and Steven, waving over his shoulder.

"Get your stuff Jackie," Steven said, coming to the back of the Cruiser and pulling her cheer bag out of the back. He handed her pom-poms to her, slinging the bags strap cross ways over his chest.

They walked in silence for over a mile and a half. Jackie found herself counting the number of steps she took between cracks in the sidewalk, a pout etched onto her lips. She swung her pom-poms at her sides, sighing interminably.

"Jackie," Steven said.

"Yes?"

Steven turned to Jackie, bringing her to a stop. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in close.

"Quit. Sighing."

Steven took off again, walking faster the closer they got to Jackie's house.

"I'm sorry!" Jackie called, jogging to catch up. "It's just- It's just tonight has been terrible!"

Jackie felt a lump rise in her throat and swallowed thickly over it.

"Oh, Christ," Steven said, his head falling back on his shoulders. "You don't want to talk, now, do you?"

"It's just Michael!" Jackie supplied, ignoring the deep groan that left Steven's throat. "He's such an imbecile! And a jerk! He ruined the whole night, Steven! And-! He never even bothered to ask me what was wrong, even though it was obvious he had ruined my night."

"Jackie, it's just who he is. All Kelso's are oblivious," Steven said, staring ahead as the Burkhart Mansion came into view. "Thought you would have figured that out by now."

"I do so much for him. For instance, that shirt he was wearing? I bought it for him!" Jackie shook her pom-poms in aggravation.

Steven sighed, pausing to open the lock on the front gate. He swung it open and gestured for Jackie to walk through first. He touched the small of her back lightly with his fingertips, and then jerked away, as if he had done it without thinking. Jackie resisted the urge to touch her back where he had touched her. Her skin felt like it was on fire beneath her fur jacket.

"Here's your bag," Steven said, slinging the strap off his shoulder and holding it out to Jackie once they had reached the porch.

Jackie opened the front door and tossed her pom-poms into the foyer, grabbed the bag from Steven and did the same with it. She turned back to Hyde, who was backing off the porch slowly.

"Thank you for walking me home," Jackie said softly, staring at Steven. He shrugged, the light from the open door glinting off his sunglasses.

"You were on the way, like I said before," Hyde replied. He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets.

"I know," Jackie took a couple steps closer to him. "But you still didn't have to do it. Michael probably wouldn't have."

Steven bit his lip. He glanced around the yard, inhaling deep. "Jackie, I don't know what you want me to say."

"It's alright, Steven," Jackie took another step closer, closing the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body flush to his in a hug. Steven was stiff under her touch, his hands firmly tucked into his pockets. Jackie breathed deep his musky scent. "It's enough that you listened."

Jackie pulled away, turning away to the house. "I'll see you around, Steven."

"Night, Jackie," Steven turned down the gravel drive, kicking out and scattering pebbles. Jackie watched him close and lock the gate and breeze down the sidewalk without ever looking back at her.

Jackie went into the house and leaned back against the closed front door. Her body was still tingling from where she had made contact with Steven. Why she had hugged him, she wasn't entirely sure, but she wished now she hadn't. Every breath she took was Steven, and her palms were itchy in the places that had touched his hair. She shook her hands, taking the stairs up to her room in a sprint.

A hot bath and a facial. That was what she needed, that and to get Steven Hyde out of her thoughts, pronto.

 **A/N: Thank you so, so, so, so, so, so, so, much for all the wonderful reviews! They make my day and keep me wanting to write more. This chapter was extremely hard to write. I knew what I wanted to accomplish, but every time I sat down to write, what came out was the complete opposite. I rewrote this chapter at least three times, and I hope I've chosen the best draft, and that y'all will agree. Sorry if it doesn't flow well, or seems choppy, I really just needed to get this out there so I would quit re-writing every scene.**


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n:** **There is explicit content in this chapter, so if that's not your thing, be aware.**

 **Old Man**

 **Chapter Five**

 _Silent woman, in the night you came,_

 _Took my seed from my shaking frame,_

 _Same old fire, another flame,_

 _And the wheel rolls on._

 _-The Wanton Song, Led Zeppelin._

November 1976

Steven lit a cigarette, walking quickly down the sidewalk away from the Burkhart's. He rolled his shoulders and inhaled deep, enjoying the burn as the smoke entered his lungs and seared his throat. Anything to get the memory of Jackie's body pressed against his out of his head. She was Kelso's. Thoughts of her, and her body, most especially her body, were strictly forbidden. His pants had grown uncomfortably tight with Jackie pressed so tightly against him, and it was only a miracle of God, Buddha, and all those other deity's he didn't particularly believe in, that she hadn't noticed.

Jackie Burkhart was a succubus she had to be. Every touch, and Steven fell deeper and deeper under her spell.

"I need to get laid," Steven muttered under his breath. He scratched at the back of his neck, feeling awkward.

The yards began to shrink, their levels of tidiness diminishing, as Hyde neared his home. He buttoned his jacket against the breeze and tossed his spent cigarette into the street. Edna would be pissed when she found out that Steven had pilfered her cigarettes again, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

All the lights were on downstairs when Steven entered the house, letting the screen door slam closed behind him. Edna had the radio on, blaring out Neil Sedaka. Steven looked around the living room, and made his way to the back room where Edna slept, stepping over empty beer cans and take-out containers. Clothes were scattered on the bed and floor, and a suitcase was open on the lumpy mattress. Edna was nowhere in sight.

Steven backed out of the room and made his way to the kitchen. "Ma?"

Edna was at the kitchen counter, mixing a rum and coke. She poked her index finger into the fusion, giving it a good stir and turned from the counter, leaning against the dirty butcher's block. "Oh, you're home."

"Yeah," Steven said, opening the fridge. Beer filled most of the shelf space, a pint of milk, curdled, and moldy cheese made up the rest. "Is there nothing to eat?"

Edna pushed off the counter and reached for her carton of cigarettes, shaking out a new pack. "Not unless you brought it with you. Have you been in my carton again?"

Steven closed the fridge, sighing. "No."

An awkward silence filled the room. Edna tossed the carton back onto the counter, muttering profanities under her breath. Steven opened and closed the cabinets, searching for something to munch on. He found a box of Alpha-Bits and pulled it out of the cabinet, hoping against hope that mice hadn't gotten to it yet.

Edna gulped the last of her drink and moved to make another. "So, Steven, I'm going to be going out of town for a few days. With Randy."

"The trucker?" Steven asked, watching as Edna poured her glass three quarters of the way with rum and a dash of coke. She stuck her pointer finger into the drink and stirred, cursing when some of the cocktail slid over the rim of the glass. Edna sucked the end of her finger, before wiping it down the front of her shirt.

Steven popped a handful of stale Alpha-Bits into his mouth and chewed around the cardboard texture. Edna held out her free hand towards him; Steven poured some of the cereal into her outstretched palm without comment.

"One and the same," Edna said, making her way out of the kitchen. She tipped back her head and stuffed the handful of cereal into her mouth, smacking her jaws together. Steven followed a few feet behind her. Edna was likely to lash out if Steven followed too close. "So, you know, don't burn the house down while I'm gone."

"Why? Cause it's filled with so many happy memories?"

Steven perched at the head of Edna's bed, flinching when Edna smacked him on the back of his skull. She placed the sweating glass on her nightstand and began to gather clothes and toiletries, sloppily stuffing them into her suitcase.

"Don't start, Steven, not tonight," Edna moved off to her closet, disappearing into a sea of polyester and terry tube tops. "I already deal with enough shit during the day, I don't need yours too."

Steven swiped Edna's drink off the nightstand and took a large gulp. He pulled a face at the strong-ness of the drink, sliding it back on the table just as Edna reappeared. Edna glared at him, noticing the missing beverage instantly.

"So, where are you two love birds headed off to, then?" Steven brought his feet up onto the stained chenille bedspread and crossed his ankles. He dropped the box of cereal to the floor. Edna dumped an armful of clothing onto the bed and began to separate out the items. She held up a tube top and deciding against it, threw it over her shoulder onto the floor.

Edna sighed and came to take another gulp of her drink. "I'm not sure. What do you care?"

"I don't," Steven replied. "Just want to know how long I'll be blessedly alone, while you're out whoring with Trucker Randy."

Edna made a swipe at Steven, missing as he ducked out of the way. She took another gulp of her drink and set it on the table, hard. "Oh, fuck off, Steven."

Steven made himself comfortable on the bed. He reached for her drink. Edna watched him take a sip, clucking her tongue at him when he took another. She turned back to her suitcase once Steven had set the glass back on the nightstand. "But you'd miss me once I'm gone," Steven said sarcastically, licking a drop of rum and coke off his lips.

"Yeah, like I'll miss a pebble in my shoe," Edna replied, snapping the lid on her suitcase closed. She came to the nightstand, swiping her drink off the mottled, ringed wood. Between gulps, she fixed her dark blue eyes on Steven. "Do you think I won't miss you?"

Steven shrugged his shoulders, pulling a joint from his pocket. Edna opened the top drawer on her nightstand and searched through it for a second, producing a lighter and handing it off to Steven. He had a nice Zippo in his pocket he had stolen from the convenience store, but he accepted Edna's Bic without comment.

Edna shoved the case across the mattress and sat at Steven's feet. She swirled her mostly empty drink in her hand, staring down at the liquid. Steven inhaled a deep lungful and held onto the smoke, holding the joint out to Edna. Edna took it from him, copying him. They sat there in silence, neither looking at one another. After thirty more seconds of this, Steven exhaled, his head feeling light. His mother exhaled a second later.

"Look, Steven, I know I haven't been very good to you," Edna took another hit and held the blunt out to Steven. "It's just, I had dreams, you know? I had things I wanted to do with my life."

"Yeah, Ma, I know," Steven interrupted, sucking hard on the end of the joint. He shifted on the mattress, feeling uncomfortable with the turn of conversation.

Edna sipped at her drink, looking off above Steven's head. Her fingers picked absentmindedly at the chenille bedspread, working a few threads loose. "I was going to be something, Steven. I had a good man, a smart man. And together, we had plans. We were going to go far."

"Yeah, then you got knocked up and Bud went to prison, and you were stuck with me, I know how it goes," Steven said staring hard at Edna.

Edna's gaze jerked to Steven. Her eyes held back from him, her lips were drawn tight. Those blue irises held secrets.

"What?" Steven said, taking a hit on the joint. He held it out to Edna. She took it from him, rolling it back and forth between her middle finger and thumb. Edna opened her mouth to speak, and then snapped it closed again. She took a small hit. Her left arm began to scratch at her right bicep and she broke into song, singing softly along with Neil, blaring from the living room. Her eyes flicked up to Steven and away, and glanced back up to him.

"Nothing, Steven." Edna took another hit off the joint. She stood from the bed and began to pace the room, the ice in her drink clinking as she turned left and right, left and right.

"Ma," Steven said watching her. His heart had begun to pound in his chest and his brain started to work overtime, thinking up reasons and reasons as to why she was acting so shady. "You're freaking me out, man, quit it."

Edna paused. She dropped the joint onto a porcelain tea plate on the dresser. Steven snatched it up, holding onto it like it was a lifeline.

"Do you think I won't miss you?" Edna asked again.

"Will you?" Steven countered.

Edna shrugged. "I don't know."

Steven snorted. He finished the joint, stamping it out on the porcelain plate. "Alright then."

"Well, don't you care?"

"Should I?"

"I don't know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steven swung his legs off the mattress, his boots pounding against the wooden floors.

Edna shrugged again. She looked uncomfortable; she'd never been one for sharing feelings. "I don't know, Steven. I can't think straight right now. I need another drink."

She stomped out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. Steven picked up the discarded box of Alpha-Bits and scooped out a handful. Munching on the stale cereal, Steven blanked out his mind, focusing on Neil Sedaka. He sung softly under his breath, " _Pictures on a stage, round and round the records go, time to turn the page_."

Edna made a reappearance about ten minutes later. She seemed surprised to find Steven still perched on her bedspread, but said nothing. Yanking the suitcase back towards her, she flipped open the lid and pulled all her belongings out. Methodically, she began to fold the articles of clothing, placing them almost lovingly into the case.

Steven studied her movements, slithering down the comforter onto his side. He pushed his clasped hands between his knees, his eyelids growing heavy.

"I will, Ma," Steven whispered.

Edna made no move that she had heard him. She folded a brightly colored shirt and laid it atop a pair of cutoffs.

"I will, too," Edna whispered back.

-x-

The Hub was steadily emptying, and Hyde's date had yet to make an appearance. His gaze swung from the empty parking lot to the emptying restaurant, back and forth, till his head began to ache.

"I think you must have made her up, Hyde," Fez said, dipping a fry into some ketchup. "There is no way boobs like that could be real."

"I'm tellin' ya, Fez, she's real!" Steven glanced out the glass door, but the parking lot was just as empty as it had been twenty seconds ago at his last check.

"Whatever makes you feel better, Hyde," Fez said. "But I know the truth."

"Whatever, man," Steven said, kicking up his feet on the empty chair next to him. He picked up a newspaper and flicked it open. "Weren't you about to make a phone call?"

Fez stood from the table, fishing in his pocket for some change. He consulted a number scribbled on his palm, and dropped the change into the slot, quickly dialing. "Hello? House of Chicken?"

Steven smirked, half-listening, searching for an interesting article.

"How big are your wings?" Fez had a large smile on his face.

"Breasts!" Steven corrected, looking up from his paper.

Fez shifted, "Oh, yes. How big are your breasts?" Fez paused, listening. "This is Fez, who is this?"

Steven waved at him, motioning to hang up the phone. Fez dropped the phone back onto the receiver. "Whew! My first prank call!"

Fez took a seat next to Hyde. "Every night with you, is an adventure."

Steven smiled awkwardly, looking up from his paper. "Yeah, Fez, it's a real roller coaster, ain't it?"

"You know, maybe the reason you don't have a girlfriend is because of your hair," Fez said, staring at Steven's curly locks. He reached out, pulling Steven's hair at certain angles. Steven swatted his hands away, smoothing his hair back down.

The door to The Hub swung open. A tall woman strode in, clad in leather and greasy hair. She sauntered across the black and white tiled floor, stopping before Hyde and Fez's table. "Hey, you."

Steven looked up. His newspaper fell to his lap. Before him stood a true goddess, one that had to made exactly for him; she transformed before his eyes, a pair of Stratocasters slung cross-ways on her back. She wasn't his Watermelon Jugs, but she was a close second.

"Is there a motel in this puke-hole?" She leaned in towards Hyde, eyes widening in effect.

"There's a Sleepy Time Lodge three puke-holes over," Steven said pointing in the general direction of said motel.

"Thanks," She said, planting her hands on her hips. She shook her greasy hair from her face. "I'm Chrissy."

"I'm Hyde," Steven said, staring hard.

"Who cares? You wanna," she held her hands before her, motioning revving a throttle, "hop on my Vespa, and show me where it is?"

Steven glanced out the open door of The Hub, taking in a royal blue Vespa parked on the curb. He brought his gaze by to Chrissy, barely registering that his mouth was hanging open. A spotlight lit her up, as The Sex Pistols filled his ears. "Mother of God, I think I love you."

"Love, is an outdated concept, invented by greeting card companies, to keep women subservient," Chrissy said, pointing at Hyde.

"Mother of God, I do love you," Hyde cooed. "Fez. I'll see you later."

Chrissy led the way out of The Hub to her Vespa. Hyde climbed onto the bike behind her, not even complaining about taking the bitch seat.

"So where to?" Chrissy said, looking over her shoulder at Hyde. Steven pressed himself firmly against her back, fitting her butt between his thighs snugly. Chrissy pressed back against him, smirking.

"That-a-way," Steven said, pointing to Green Bay Road. "Take a right."

Chrissy gunned the Vespa out of The Hub's parking lot, narrowly missing hitting an old station wagon as they barreled down the main road. They passed by the high school and a couple hardware stores, screeching tires through lights that had already changed red and swerving around cars that crossed their path. Chrissy shook her hair out behind her, and whooped loudly into the night air. Steven wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, skimming his thumbs under her breasts, sucking in a breath when he didn't feel a bra.

Oh, yeah, this woman was made for him.

They passed by the reservoir and came upon the last stop light before leaving Point Place. Chrissy drew the bike to a stop, kicking it back down to first gear. She turned her head and made eye contact with Steven. He leaned in, bringing his hands up to cup her breasts and kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Chrissy's slick tongue pressed back against his own, vying for dominance.

Steven and Chrissy separated, Chrissy focused on Steven's mouth. "How much further to this place?"

"It's just a couple more miles, past Mount Hump," Steven said.

The light changed to green and Chrissy whiskey throttled the Vespa, Steven barely clinging onto her as they shot down the stretch of road. The Sleepy Time Lodge's parking lot was scattered with vehicles, and Chrissy sped into the lot, careening into an empty space close to the office.

"I'll be back," Chrissy said, swinging her leg over the Vespa's' leather seat. She gripped Steven's face, and kissed him hard, slipping her tongue past his lips, and licking the roof of his mouth, before breaking away and stalking off towards the office.

Steven watched her leather clad hips swing away, adjusting his stiffening penis in his jeans. This is just what he'd pictured. No, this was better than he pictured. A hot, and willing, girl, a motel. Hell, even the Vespa was a welcome addition. Steven drummed his fists against the Vespa's seat. He knew he wouldn't be leaving this place still a virgin. Finally, he would be able to get Jackie out of his head.

Chrissy appeared from the office five minutes later, a six-pack of beer hanging from her fingers. She waved a key at him and waited for him to meet her at the sidewalk; Steven unstrapped her duffle bag from the back of the Vespa and slung the strap over his shoulder. Steven followed behind her, staring at her ass as she came to a stop in front of a room, kicking open the door.

Plopping the beer onto a table, Chrissy flipped on the light switch, gazing about the room. Steven dropped her bag to the floor, staring at Chrissy. She slipped her leather jacket off her shoulders, hanging it off the back of the nearest chair. Her shirt hugged her breasts, her nipples hard, and she turned to Steven with a smirk playing at her thin lips.

"Want a beer?" She asked, pulling one free. Chrissy popped the top and took a long pull.

Steven took a beer from the table and said, "So what brings you to Point Place? The gorgeous scenery?"

"I'm on my way to New York," Chrissy said, moving towards the bed. She swiped the ashtray from the table and laid it in the middle of the bed. "I'm starting a punk rock band."

"Seriously?" Steven came to the opposite side of the bed. He took Chrissy's lead, kneeling the floor and resting his elbows on the mattress. She produced a pack of cigarettes and lit one, offering the pack to Steven. "That's awesome, man."

Chrissy smiled, flicking ash into the ashtray. "I just couldn't stay in Minneapolis, anymore, you know? Living the same day, every day, all day. School, work, eat, sleep, school, work, eat, and sleep: over and over and over again. It's exhausting."

"I know exactly what you mean," Steven thought immediately of the basement. Between school and the time spent in the basement, there wasn't much more to do in Point Place, besides petty vandalism, and even that was getting boring.

"And in New York, man, there's just so many more artistic people, willing to throw down the government, whatever it takes to do so, " Chrissy said, sipping at her beer. "The northwest is just so concerned with virginity and the sanctity of marriage. It's like the government has poisoned the water, brainwashing all the little ducklings, training them to think that the man is a dominant being, and a woman is only there to pop out little Bobbie's and Susie's." 

"The American dream: white-picket fence, two and a half kids, and the golden retriever," Steven said, sipping at his own beer. He couldn't tear his gaze from Chrissy. She hated the government too? Could this get any better?

Chrissy pressed her elbows together, pushing her breasts forward. Steven looked, appreciating the full-ness of her rack straining against her ratty grey t-shirt.

"See the establishment doesn't want us having sex," Chrissy leaned further across the comforter, her eyes trained on Hyde's. "Because they know it makes us feel good, right? So every time we have sex, it's a huge protest."

Chrissy put out her cigarette and pressed the toes of her boots into the shag carpet, angling her face toward Steven. She looked down at his lips, focusing on his mouth, tugging her own lower lip between her teeth.

Steven smiled, "You know what? I think I feel a huge protest coming on."

They met half-way, Chrissy immediately slipping her tongue into Steven's mouth. She moaned into his mouth and caressed his lips with her own. Steven's heart began to pound in his chest, his shaking fingers working to slip his jacket off his shoulders.

Chrissy broke away suddenly, standing from her position at the side of the bed and coming around to Steven's side. She ran her fingers over his stomach, coming to a stop at his belt buckle. "You have a condom?"

Steven nodded vigorously, cupping Chrissy's face and kissing her, almost affectionately.

"Hey," Chrissy said, pulling away. Her fingers worked at his belt, yanking hard as she slipped the leather strap from the buckle. "This isn't some passionate, loving embrace. It's sex; we're gonna fuck, you understand?"

"Yeah, man," Steven said, dropping his hands from her face and grabbing the hem to her shirt. He yanked it over her head, briefly taking in her bare chest before Chrissy bent at the waist, pulling his jeans and boxers down to his ankles in one fluid motion. She stood before him, planting a kiss on his mouth before yanking his own shirt over his head.

Steven sat on the edge of the bed, pulling his boots off and pushing his jeans to the floor. Chrissy stood before him, teasing the tip of his penis with her finger tips, watching as it jerked under her touch.

"Jesus," Steven said, standing and pressing himself flush against her. He captured her mouth, kissing her hard enough to bruise. Their teeth knocked together, but neither released the other. Steven's fingers traveled up her stomach, to her breasts. His thumbs teased her nipples, pinching and rolling the buds.

"Take off my boots," Chrissy said, pushing against Steven's shoulders. He sat back on the bed. Chrissy planted one foot on his thigh and Steven began to work her laces undone. He pulled her left boot free, then her right and began to work on the ties of her leather pants.

"No underwear?" Steven tugged the pants down over her butt, stopping to stare at her sex.

Chrissy reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Find they get in the way. Hard to mount protests with so much clothing."

Steven pulled her pants the rest of the way from her long legs, dropping them to the carpet. Chrissy stepped out of them eagerly. He kissed her stomach, pulling her closer as his fingers trailed up the inside of her thigh.

She was slick, and Steven's pointer finger slid into her heat with ease. Chrissy's head fell back to her shoulders and a long moan left her lips. Steven pumped his finger in and out of her, adding a second, then a third, bringing his thumb up to circle her clitoris. Chrissy tugged hard on his hair, sucking air into her mouth.

A fluttering massaged and pulsated Steven's fingers, and Chrissy moved back, letting Steven's hand fall from her body.

"Should I get the condom now?" Steven asked, reaching for his discarded jeans. He pulled the foil package from his wallet, scooting back along the mattress to the headboard. Chrissy followed him on her knees, swinging her hips.

"Wait, don't put it on yet," Chrissy said, taking Steven's penis in her hand. She rubbed her palm up and down his shaft, spitting onto the head and rubbing her saliva between her fingers and his member.

Steven's head fell back against the headboard. "Oh, Jesus."

Chrissy swirled her hand over the tip of his penis, her eyes flicking up to Steven and then back to the job at hand. She leaned close, taking the tip of his penis into her mouth.

Steven's hands rose to her head, burying themselves into her hair. Chrissy's warm mouth slid down his shaft, her teeth lightly grazing, as she began to bob up and down over his crotch. Pressure built in Steven's groin. His eyes slid closed as Chrissy's tongue massaged his penis, sliding farther and farther down, till she had taken the whole of him in her mouth.

The tips of his fingers coiled, grasping her greasy hair, his toes curling into the comforter. Chrissy moaned, her mouth and throat vibrating around him. Steven twitched and pulled at her hair, pulling her mouth up and off him.

"I'm gonna come if you don't slow down," He gasped. Chrissy released him, grabbing the foil condom from the mattress where he had dropped it. She tore open the package with her teeth and rolled the condom down his shaft with skilled fingers.

Steven gripped her hips as Chrissy straddled his waist, her hands clutching his shoulders. She took his penis into her hand, pumping her fist a few times before she slid herself onto him, encasing Steven in damp heat.

"Wait for me," Chrissy said, rolling her hips, taking Steven deeper before she set a pace. Steven's eyes fixed onto her full breasts, his breaths growing short.

The headboard banged against the wall, louder and louder as Steven met Chrissy's pace. Their moans filled the small room, the smell of sex hanging heavy on the musty air. Sweat beaded on Steven's skin, mixing with Chrissy's. Steven pulled her closer, licking up the column of her neck and sucking her ear lobe into his mouth.

Someone banged on the wall next door, yelling at them to be Shut The Fuck Up. Steven banged his fist back, dislodging the framed picture above the bed. The picture shook, falling from one nail, knocking on the thin wall in time with the headboard. Chrissy grabbed Steven's chin, bringing her mouth to his for a kiss.

Chrissy's hips shuddered, her head tipping back. She drew her lower lip into her mouth, working it between her teeth, letting a guttural moan fill the room. Her nails dug into the fleshy skin of his shoulders, hard enough to draw blood.

Steven pulled Chrissy close, burying his face into her shoulder, and held Chrissy down on his lap, releasing into the condom with a tremor. Chrissy's hands dropped from Steven, pushing strings of hair from her face. She sighed and let a goofy grin take over her face. She came up to her knees, easing Steven out of her and fell to the opposite side of the bed.

"Jesus," Steven said again, pushing his sunglasses up his forehead. His chest rose in a pant and sweat slicked his skin. Chrissy stood from the bed and strode over to the bathroom. Steven watched her, admiring her naked form. She returned a second later with a wad of toilet paper in her hand. "Thanks."

Chrissy plopped onto the bed and drew her fingers up and down Steven's arm. "I think you should come to New York with me, join my punk band."

Steven chuckled, wiping at himself and tossing the dirty paper encasing the used condom onto the floor. "I can't play any instruments."

"Meh, we can teach you," Chrissy said. She curled herself against his side, tangling her legs with his.

"Sounds fantastic," Steven said, his eyelids growing heavy.

Chrissy began to rub his stomach, sighing deeply as she settled further into the mattress. Steven wrapped his arm about her shoulders and fell into a fitful sleep, where Jackie cheered his name (S-T-E-V-E-N, STEVEN, STEVE-EN) and fell into a series of splits and high-kicks, flashing him snippets of her green spanks and toned legs.

-x-

Eric was waiting on the porch when Steven made his grand exit from his mother's house. Edna was drunk, and yelling, upset that her plans with Randy had been delayed a couple days for him to spend time with his wife and kids. She threw her glass at Steven's retreating form, the glass shattering against the doorframe.

"Hey Forman," Steven said nonchalantly, coming to take a seat by Eric on the warped steps.

"Your mom took the news well?" Eric hooked his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the irate woman now slamming doors open and closed.

"Oh," Steven shifted his weight. "I haven't told her yet."

Eric laughed without much feeling. "Hyde, man, you can't go to New York. We still have tons of plans to accomplish here. Like, we were going to paint that pot leaf on the water tower."

Hyde nodded. "Yeah, man, I know. But what if this is my only chance to get out of this place?"

"It's not, Hyde," Eric asserted.

Steven nodded his head almost absentmindedly. "I gotta go meet Chrissy. You mind giving me a lift?"

Eric rolled his eyes, standing abruptly from the steps and stalking over to the Vista Cruiser. Hyde followed behind him, sliding into the front seat as Eric turned the ignition.

Neither of them spoke as Eric drove them out of Point Place. Steven flipped open his Zippo, striking the flint and swinging the lid closed on the flame repeatedly. Eric had the radio tuned to WFPP, and drummed his fingers along to Blue Oyster Cult.

Steven brought his gaze up to the passenger window, staring out at the town he had convinced himself he hated. The rundown streets littered with potholes, the high school and neighboring football stadium. Jackie flashed through his minds eye, smiling brightly and waving her pom-poms. Steven jerked away from the window, glancing at Forman and rubbing the palms of his hands down his jeans.

Red and Kitty's lecture began replaying through his mind. What _was_ he going to put on his resume? How was he going to get money to pay for food? Chrissy had glossed over these topics, stating that she had connections and friends, Somewhere In Manhattan, Or Maybe It Was Queens. A wave of nausea rolled through his stomach, settling low in his belly.

Running away was Bud and Edna's thing. If he left, he'd probably never be able to see his friends again. Or Jackie, for that matter.

Man, never seeing Jackie again would be a blessing, more so than a curse. She was the Devil incarnate. She made you want to do stupid things, like kiss her senseless and throw her down on a bed and ravage her body. Steven found he couldn't help but listen to her mundane chatter now whenever she was in the basement, Donny Osmond and the latest cheerleader gossip, the latest hair-styles and makeup. He studied out of the corner of his eye the way she played with Michael's hair and the way she looked when she giggled. He hated the hold she had on him.

And then there was Michael.

Michael and Jackie had finally done it, and now Kelso was sticking it wherever he could, boasting of his infidelities and promising the gang whenever Jackie wasn't around that he was done with her. Steven felt bad for Jackie. Poor kid had no idea what was going on.

Well, maybe she did. Jackie was more perceptive than most gave her credit for, even Steven. Perhaps, especially Steven.

Eric pulled into the Sleepy Time Lodge's parking lot, and threw the car into park. He didn't speak and didn't turn off the ignition, watching with apparent sadness and disappointment as Steven climbed out of the car and walked across the parking lot to Chrissy's room. Steven waved back to Forman, who held his hand up in response, before reversing out of his parking space and turning out onto the main road.

Steven pulled a joint from his pocket and lit up, taking a seat on a concrete parking block. He smoked the joint slowly, his mind working a mile a minute. Staying was safer. Staying was also going to be the end of him, he felt. Staying meant keeping his connection, and more of Mrs. Forman's cooking. Staying meant settling in Point Place. Fuck, did he hate the thought of settling. It seemed the only way he would escape this place was to wind up in prison.

Staying also meant out-smarting Kelso at his game, and possibly saving Jackie from VD.

The night air was a cool kiss on his skin. The wind ruffled his hair, drawing him out of his reverie. Steven dropped the joint onto the asphalt, watching as the wind pushed it away from him, skidding and bumping along till it was out of sight.

 _Just get it over with, Hyde,_ Steven thought, pushing himself off the parking block.

Steven knocked on the door, testing the handle and pushing it open when it turned beneath his palm. Chrissy was at the table, pulling the drawstrings tight on her duffle bag.

"Hey," Steven said, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Hey," Chrissy said, looking him over. "Where's your bag?"

Steven looked down at the shag carpeting, sucking in his cheeks.

"Man, you're not going," Chrissy said, snapping the buckle closed on her bag.

"No," Steven agreed, taking a step closer. "But I am willing to mount another protest, if you've got the time."

Chrissy smiled, coming close. She kissed him, perhaps the most tender kiss they had shared. She took a folded piece of paper from her pocket and thrust it into Hyde's hand. "This is my friends number in New York. Don't call me!"

Hyde laughed, looking down at the scribbled numbers and letters. "Yeah, I won't. Hey, you mind if I steal the towels?"

Swinging her duffle bag onto her shoulder, Chrissy pressed her hand against Hyde's chest, tapping against it. "Sorry, I already grabbed them."

Chrissy swept out of the room. Steven took a look around, taking in the unmade bed and ashtray full of cigarette butts. He dumped the contents onto the table, stuffed the ashtray into his coat pocket, and left the room, catching a last glimpse of Chrissy, gunning it down the main road, without a backward glance.


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n: there's more sexual content, just a fair warning.**

 **Old Man**

 **Chapter Six**

 _Before you take a guy and say I do, now  
Make sure he's in love with you, now  
Make sure that his love is true, now  
I hate to see you feeling sad and blue, now. _

November 16th, 1976,

9:02 pm

Jackie paced her room, wringing her hands together.

Her parent's had left for a realtor's convention in Kenosha just under thirty minutes ago, and she had immediately called Michael to tell him the news: _They finally had the chance to do IT._

Jackie peered out the lace curtains covering her window, checking for Michael's silhouette making its way up the sidewalk. Her heart beat frantically in her chest, and she took several deep breaths, shaking her hands at her sides. This was the night, the night of all nights. The night that would mark, forever, just when, exactly, Michael Christopher Kelso and Jacqueline Beulah Burkhart made an everlasting promise to one another. The night of the union of their bodies.

A promise made with their bodies. A promise that would seal their relationship in stone, forever and ever and ever.

There was no way that Michael would ever be able to look at another woman with such lascivious want again, not after what she was going to give him tonight. _If only he would show up._

Jackie turned away from the window and stalked over to her bookshelf. She had arranged tall pillar candles on each shelf, and taking up a matchbook, she struck a match and began to light them, one by one. She lit the candles on her bookshelf and moved over to her desk, where she had cleverly spread some rose petals, taken from several specimens in the garden, on the desk between more candles. Jackie waved out the flame on the match just before it reached her fingertips and turned to her bed.

Her flower pillows and a stuffed teddy bear, a gift from Michael on their two-year anniversary, stood sentinel at the headboard, nestled against her shams. She grabbed a handful of rose petals, left over in a glass bowl, and scattered them over her comforter. Jackie stared at the catastrophe she had made. It was all too staged looking. She set the bowl of rose petals hard on her nightstand and raked her hands over the comforter, spreading the petals over the duvet in a more _blasé_ movement. Like they had just happened to fall upon her bed, so strategically.

Jackie rushed to her window again, pulling aside the lace curtain. Still no sign of Michael.

The clock radio on her nightstand claimed five minutes had come and passed. The Kelso household was only fifteen minutes away, walking, but that was taking into account the fact that none of Kelso's brothers had held him up. Jackie shuddered, thinking how much Michael had been looking forward to this moment. He had bragged to all their friends already that they had done it, had given frank details about their so-called sex life, and Jackie didn't stop him. She didn't want to be the young, inexperienced girl. She wanted to be that Cool Girl, the one other girls came to with their questions and admiration, who had had sex with the foxiest guy in school, who only wanted her, and made all the other guys jealous that they would never have what Michael Kelso had. Jackie Burkhart. And her virginity.

"Calm yourself, Burkhart." Jackie clutched her hand at her heart, making her way over to her turntable and record collection. She flipped through them haphazardly, searching for the perfect one. This whole night had to be perfect.

ABBA would be her first choice, but Michael didn't care for ABBA so much. Bee Gee's, Elton John, Seals and Crofts, Wings, none of it would do. Jackie turned away from her collection and surveyed the room. The rose petals, the candles… Jackie had laid out a silk, floor-length nightgown over the back her desk chair. It was the perfect amount of sheer and coverage.

Jackie moved over to her nightstand and pulled open the drawer, accounting again that there were a stack of condoms still nestled in its depths. She had bought a box at the drugstore, over a month ago, having dragged Donna with her, much to Donna's displeasure, to keep the cashier guessing if they were for her or for her red haired friend.

Now if only she could find some damn music to help set the mood.

Jackie tore out of her room, gliding down the stairs and banking the banister onto the Persian rug. She power walked her way into the kitchen, shoving her palms against the swinging door hard enough to sting. The kitchen was spotless, the appliances glinting at her under soft light. She yanked open the refrigerator door, searching for strawberries, for fruit of any kind, really. She pulled out a bowl of grapes and a can of whipped cream. Her eye caught a package of strawberries and she grabbed at those too, kicking the fridge door closed with her toes.

"And now, music," Jackie clutched her food items to her chest protectively, and made her way out of the kitchen, cutting to the living room through the butler's pantry.

Jackie pranced into the living room, breathless. She made her way over to her parents Silverton Console, dropping her food items to the ground and yanking open the compartment doors, flipping through the albums collected with a critical eye. Frank Sinatra was always decent, but was he good enough to make love to? Would he inspire love and passion in Michael? Jackie kept looking, finally stopping at Barry White.

"Perfect," Jackie whispered, pulling it from the console's compartment. She stacked her food items on the cardboard case and made her way out of the living room. Jackie took the stairs two at a time, skidding into her bedroom, breathless.

She raced to her window, shoving aside the lace curtains with her elbow.

"There he is," Jackie whispered, her hands clutching Barry, fruit and the sweating whipped cream can, watching intently as Michael attempted to climb the fence surrounding her parent's property. He slid down the metal poles a few times before he moved over to a brick pillar, easing his feet through the mortar cracks, up and over, falling onto the gravel drive without grace. Jackie grimaced and turned away form the window, glancing back to see him spring up, glancing around for any observers and smoothing his hands down his feathered hair. She placed her food items on her desk and slipped Barry from his case, sliding him onto her record player and bringing the arm over to play the first track.

Jackie took her nightgown from the back of her desk chair, and quickly stripped to only her panties, sliding the cool fabric over her head.

She set the volume low on her turntable and rushed to the bed, settling onto the comforter and spreading her nightgown in a full arc about her crossed legs. Jackie arranged her hair about her shoulders, listening as Michael made his way up the stairs and stopped before her bedroom door. He knocked, opening the door with a _swoosh_ at her "Entre."

"Damn, Jackie," Michael said, looking around the room. "We really are going to do it!"

Jackie slapped her hand down on the mattress, irritation running across her features. "Of course, we are, doofus!" She shook her shoulders, bringing her hands up to smooth her hair again and tried to rearrange her features into what she called _seduction_. It was just shy of a pout, with pursed lips and fluttering eyelids. "Come here, Michael."

Michael shook off his jacket, dropping it to the carpet. He took a seat on the mattress, close to her knees, and leaned in to kiss her. Jackie met him, opening her mouth to grant his tongue access. She moaned, coming to her knees, awkwardly moving to straddle Michael's lap. They broke apart as Jackie pulled her nightgown up about her stomach so she could properly wrap her legs about his waist.

"Jackie, I can't believe we're really going to do this," Michael said, between kisses down the column of her neck. Jackie felt a heat rise up her stomach, settling on her chest and shoulders. "I mean I've wanted to do this for so long."

"I know, me too," Jackie said, raking her fingers through his hair. "Now, kiss me."

They continued to make out, rocking into each other. Michael brought his hands to her hips, pulling her flush against his crotch. His belt buckle scratched at her skin and Jackie broke away from his kiss to work it off, yanking it out through his belt loops with a snap, before tossing it over her shoulder onto the floor.

"You're so hot," Michael muttered against her mouth, bringing his hands up to cup her breasts over her nightgown. His large hands covered her breasts completely and Jackie rocked her pelvis over his, growing impatient, smiling as she felt Michael grow harder at her ministrations.

"You are too, Michael, so hot," Jackie replied, moving his hands down to the hem of her nightgown, bunched at her waist. Michael's hands grabbed at the hem, pulling it up and over her head, letting it drop onto the bed beside them.

He brought his lips down to her breasts, sucking one nipple into his mouth, rolling it between his teeth. Jackie let her head fall back on her shoulders, her eyes falling closed. She had never particularly cared for nipple play, but Michael liked it, so she let him do it. He moved to the left and took that nipple into his mouth, teasing it into a stiff peak. Jackie brought her hands to the back of his head and pulled gently on his hair. He released her with a pop and focused his brown eyes on hers, smiling at her with a puppy dog look.

Jackie jerked his shirt off his body, tossing it onto the floor behind her and ran her hands over his smooth chest. Michael curled his arm about her torso, guiding her to lie atop the comforter, and pressing his body over hers, his mouth coming to her own in a passionate kiss. Jackie wrapped her legs about his waist and gripped his shoulders, bringing her pelvis up to meet his. His hips began to rock against her, his bulge insistently pressing into her heat.

"Take off your pants, Michael," Jackie gasped, breaking away from his kiss. Her lips felt swollen and tight. Her panties felt soaked; now was the time.

Michael hopped off Jackie, standing beside the bed as he worked the button loose and dropped his fly. He paused, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Just jeans, or everything?"

"Everything," Jackie said, reaching down and pushing her own underwear down and off her legs.

"Whoa," Michael said, taking in her form. Jackie had never let him take her panties off, mostly to keep things from going too quick before she was ready, and also, because losing her virginity in the backseat of the Kelso family car was not exactly the romance she was shooting for. Now he had the van, but that still didn't seem right for a first time. Embarrassment filled Jackie, and she let her knees fall together, shielding her sex from Michael's persistent stare.

Fingers hooked in the waistband of his boxers, Michael pushed the garments to the floor, nearly falling over as he tried to step out of them, kicking the legs of his jeans off his feet. Jackie's eyes roamed over his body, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. She focused on his penis, erect and pointing at her, as her heart beat in her ears. Michael opened her nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom, opening the foil packaging with shaking fingers. He rolled the condom on, and came back to the bed, nestling between Jackie's thighs.

Jackie's mouth felt as arid as a desert, her palms coming to rest on Michael's chest. Michael leaned in to kiss her, the tip of his penis pushing against her folds. He kissed his way across her cheek, short, hot breaths pulsing into the shell of her ear.

"Now?" Michael whispered, sucking her ear lobe into his warm mouth.

Shivers rocked over Jackie's frame and she nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, Michael, now."

He entered her quickly and Jackie bit back a groan. Michael began to pump his hips, his body heavy on top of hers, trapping her head between his elbows pressed into the mattress at her ears. Sweat dripped off his skin onto Jackie, and she turned her head, screeching when her hair was pulled, trapped under Michael's elbow. He smoothed her hair back and kissed her neck, muttering an apology under his breath. His skin stuck to Jackie's and a musky scent filled her nostrils. Michael brought his face down to her shoulder, moaning as he picked up the pace. Jackie gripped his shoulders, kissing his skin.

"Oh, my god, Jackie," Michael whispered, making a whimpering noise as he shuddered, pushing into her once, then twice and growing still. He was panting, collapsed fully on top of Jackie and she panted along with him, feeling unsatisfied.

Sure, the first time usually wasn't good for the girl, or so she had read in Cosmo, but she had had the expectation that when she and Michael finally did do it, all their practice messing around would come into play and he would give her the best orgasm of her life. Michael drew back to look Jackie in the eye, kissing her and shaking his sweaty hair from his eyes.

"Michael, I can't breathe," Jackie said, pushing at his body. Michael rolled off of her, bringing a hand to his forehead.

"Man, that was better than I ever even imagined!" Michael exclaimed, punching the air in triumph. He laughed and settled down into the pillows as Jackie licked her lips and tried to dispel the ache that had settled between her thighs. Her fingers itched to travel down and stroke out her orgasm, but she wouldn't do that, especially not with Michael here.

"Yeah, Michael, you're a real Apollo Rocket of Love," Jackie said sarcastically. She rolled off the bed and made her way across the carpet to the en suite. A pink washcloth sat waiting at the sink and Jackie wet it under the tap, wringing out the excess water and bringing it back out to Michael.

"You got that right, baby!" Michael said, taking off the condom and taking the washcloth from Jackie. "Hey, can you toss this out?"

Jackie scrunched her nose at the slick condom, filled with Michael's love nectar and pinched it between her thumb and pointer. She dropped it into the wastebasket in her bathroom and looked in the mirror as Michael burst into song along with Barry out in her room.

Her eyes were glassy and her chest was flushed. She brought her hands up to her hair, attempting to smooth the wild curls she had styled earlier in the afternoon. Jackie turned her head left and right. Losing her virginity didn't make her look any different; at least, she didn't think so.

"Hey, baby," Michael came into the bathroom, still naked. He pressed his front against Jackie's back and rest his head on her shoulder. "What do you say, we get that shower going?"

"Michael," Jackie started, looking down into the sink. "I spent, like, three hours doing my hair. Look at it, it's practically perfect!"

"Come on, it'll be fun," Michael said, turning away and yanking back the curtain. "I've already had a million fantasies of you all wet and soapy, this will be _way_ better."

Jackie wasn't sure whether to feel repulsed or complimented.

"Fine, fine," Jackie said as Michael started the faucet, pulling the plug that started the shower spray. She wound her hair up into a bun and secured it with a few bobby pins.

Michael stepped into the shower and held out his hand to Jackie, beckoning her closer. Jackie took his fingers in her own and stepped into the tub after him. Steam quickly filled the shower, and Michael pressed Jackie against the cold tile wall, ignoring her complaints that her hair would get wet. He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her slowly, caressing his tongue against her lips. Jackie sighed and opened her mouth to him, wrapping her arms around Michael's slick shoulders. A fluttering filled her belly.

"I don't think condoms work in water, baby," Michael whispered against her mouth. He lifted her easily, motioning for her to wrap her legs around his waist. "But that's alright, you can't get pregnant standing up."

"Michael, that's not true," Jackie said, keeping her thighs firmly pressed together.

"Sure it is!" Michael insisted, suckling her neck. "Come on, it's not like one time will hurt. We used a condom the first time."

"Michael, no," Jackie said, pushing back and away from him. "Let's just fool around in here, and then dry off and we'll make love again in my bed."

One of Michael's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "So… Will you finally do that _thing_ I've been asking you to?"

Jackie sighed. Michael's erection was pushing against her stomach and Jackie gripped it in her hand, wrapping her fingers around the shaft and began to stroke him. "On two conditions, Michael."

Michael's eyes were glazed over as he stared down at her hand on his member. "Yeah, baby, whatever you say."

"One: no getting me wet. Two: no coming in my mouth."

"Ok," Michael agreed, accepting her kiss.

-x-

"So you and Kelso, you know, _did it_?" Donna asked incredulously. "Ew!"

"No, Donna, it was amazing!" Jackie exclaimed, leaning against the railing on the Forman's back porch. Butterflies filled her stomach, thinking back to Michael's body over hers, of the feeling of him inside her.

Donna looked at Jackie with a mixture of pity and revulsion. "Kelso? Kelso was amazing?"

"Oh, just because you're stuck with skinny, girl-like Eric doesn't mean you have to demean Michael!" Jackie said, smacking the back of her fingers against Donna's bicep. "He's a man, he's _my_ man."

Donna burst into laughter, moving to sit in the swivel chair.

"Donna, it's not funny!" Jackie said, taking the open seat next to Donna. "He was a real Apollo Rocket of Love."

"A _what_?!" Donna said, laughter pouring from her large frame.

"Oh, whatever, you lumberjack," Jackie said, crossing her legs at the knee. She crossed her arms over her chest and scanned the empty driveway. "Have you seen Michael today?"

"Nope," Donna said, recovering from her laughter. "You know, it's weird, he hasn't been in the basement so much the past couple days."

"Hmm," Jackie hummed. Her right foot began to bounce, her eyebrows drawing together.

Donna fixed a penetrating look on Jackie, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Haven't you seen him?"

"Of course I have Donna!" Jackie sneered, rolling her eyes in Donna's direction.

Truth be told, Jackie hadn't seen or talked to Michael since he had left her house last Friday night. He had kissed her at the front door, promising to call her as soon as he got home. But he never had. Jackie had spent the whole weekend by the phone, waiting, growing more and more angry the more time passed without any sign of her boyfriend. Monday and Tuesday at school, he had been conspicuously absent, though Fez had informed her he had been in their English class.

Donna looked skeptical. She slapped her hands on her knees and stood from the chair. "Ok, then."

Jackie stood from her own chair and followed Donna into the Forman's kitchen. Eric and Hyde were at the table eating sandwiches, quickly growing quiet at the presence of the two girls.

"What were y'all talking about?" Jackie asked, taking a seat at the bar.

"None of your business, Devil," Eric said, taking a large bite from his sandwich.

Steven stood from the table and moved around the counter to place his plate in the sink. He didn't look at Jackie, or make any sign at all of her presence. "I'll be in the basement," he announced to the room, turning to the basement staircase.

Eric finished the last bite of his sandwich, leaving his dirty plate on the table. He took Donna's hand and pulled her after Hyde, disappearing into the basement. Jackie shoved back from the bar and stomped after them, closing the door to the basement behind her at Steven's holler. She skipped down the stairs and took the empty seat on the couch next to Donna and Eric. Steven flipped on the TV and sat back in his chair, sighing deeply, and crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

The foursome fell into a lulled silence, focusing on Gilligan's Island, barely moving when Fez entered the basement and took a seat on the lawn chair, with a note of greeting. He produced a bag of candy from his coat pocket and searched through it for a lollipop, placing it in his mouth with a satisfied groan.

Jackie sighed, focusing on a Hot Wheels commercial, lost in thought, when the basement door swung once more, spitting Michael into the room.

Tension rolled across the occupants as Michael saw Jackie, a panicked look on his face.

"Michael!" Jackie exclaimed, popping up from the couch.

"Oh, hey, Jackie," Michael said, pushing his hands into his pockets. Jackie cocked her head. She had expected Michael to be as happy to see her, as she was to see him, with explanations and flowers, chocolates, maybe even a pony, to make up for his complete lack of presence.

Jackie glanced behind her at her friends, than turned back to Michael. She placed her hand on his upper arm and pushed him out of the basement onto the back stairs.

"Where have you been?" Jackie whispered angrily, smacking him repeatedly on the arm. Michael flinched, raising his arms to cover his face. "Why didn't you call me?!"

"I- I- Jackie-, Jackie stop hitting me!" Michael said, making a move to grasp her wrists. "I couldn't call you!"

"And why not?" Jackie shot back, wrestling to free her wrists. She struck out with her feet, making contact with his shins. Michael yelped, releasing her. Jackie pounded his back with her open palms, the sound echoing up the cement recesses.

"Jackie!" Michael said, making up the stairs. "Jackie, quit it!"

"No!" Jackie screeched, tearing off after him. Michael stopped by the side of his van and ran his hands through his hair. "We make love, and then you never call? Why would you do that to me?"

Michael looked pained, shuffling his feet. He inhaled and puffed out his cheeks. He shook his hair out of his eyes and turned away, then swung back around. "Believe me, I wanted to call you, Jackie, I really did."

Jackie began tapping her foot. Her eyebrows rose high on her forehead and she fixed Michael with an unblinking glare. "I'm waiting."

Michael fixed Jackie with a stare of his own. "I really wanted to call you, but I couldn't."

"You couldn't?" Jackie deadpanned.

"Right, yeah, I couldn't," Michael looked around the driveway, searching for inspiration. "Because…."

Jackie shifted her weight, moving to tap the other foot against the smooth concrete driveway.

"It's because we were getting our phones cleaned!" Michael burst out, pointing a finger at Jackie.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever freaking heard, Michael," Jackie spat.

"Well," Michael said, taking a step closer and crossing his arms. "It's the truth. Take it or leave it."

"It takes a whole week to get your phones cleaned?" Jackie questioned. Her mind was working a mile a minute. She had never heard of getting phones cleaned, but then again, she never cleaned anything anyway. That was Martina's job. For all she knew, Martina cleaned the Burkhart's phones every month.

"Well, actually, it usually takes longer," Michael said, his eyes sweeping to right and left. "They're still cleaning them, that's why I still haven't called."

"Why couldn't you just use Eric's phone? Or Fez's?"

Michael scoffed, shaking his head. "Because, Jackie, the reason the phones at my parent's house were dirty, would've caused theirs to get dirty too. I was trying to be considerate, you know, like you always tell me I need to be."

"You are the biggest idiot I have ever met, Michael Kelso," Jackie stated.

"Yeah…" Michael began, coming close to Jackie and placing his hands on her hips. "But you know what will make you feel better?"

"What?" Jackie said, confusion on her features.

"If we do it. Right now. In my van." Michael raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Michael!" Jackie sputtered, slapping his stomach.

"Oh, come on, everyone's downstairs, they probably think we're doing it anyway!" Michael exclaimed, pulling her closer. "Come on, baby, I've missed you."

Jackie's heart felt warm at his words and a smile rose to her lips. "I've missed you too, Michael."

"I love you, Jackie," Michael whispered, rocking his pelvis into hers.

A full-fledged grin was on her lips now, and Jackie accepted Michael's kisses, giggling when he picked her up and opened the side door to the van, spilling them inside.

-x-

June 1977

Eric pulled the Cruiser onto Franklin Street, pulling Donna closer to his side. Jackie propped her knees against the front seat bench and leaned into Michael's side, nodding along with the music.

"Guys, can we do something besides cruise? That's the third time tonight we've driven by that house," Steven grumbled from the front passenger's seat. He stared out the window, drumming his fingers on the open window frame.

"Oh," Michael said, perking up. "You know what we could do, we could go skinny dipping. Naked! That's the way God intended."

Steven glanced at Donna and back at Jackie, quirking his lips up into a half smile.

Jackie pushed her hair behind her ear. "No way."

"Why not?" Michael asked, giving Jackie a disbelieving look. "It'll be fun."

"Well, sure, fun for you guys," Donna said from the front, glancing back in Kelso's direction. "Cause you get to look at us and that's a treat. But we just get to look at you and that's nasty."

Eric laughed, nodding his head. "So, you don't want to do it?"

"Well," Donna started, looking out the windshield. She shook her head, a smile on her lips. "I don't care, I'll do it."

"You will?" Eric said, looking at Donna in surprise. He turned his gaze back to road, shifting his weight. He cleared his throat and said, "Okay, I'm in."

"Naked is dirty," Fez began. "Dirty, dirty, dirt-y. Dirty, dirty, dirt-y."

Michael began to chant along with him, knocking Jackie's shoulder and pulling her against him, tickling her ribs. Jackie broke into laughter, pushing back against him as Eric made a turn off Franklin onto Green Bay Road. Steven leaned forward and turned up the radio, the mood in the car shifting to one of tense excitement.

Eric braked at the last stop light in town, bobbing his head to the radio. Jackie draped her legs over Michael's lap, leaning in to kiss his cheek. Ever since they had gotten back together, after Prom Night and the whole Pam Macy debacle, things between her and Michael had been spectacular. He worshipped her, called her promptly at nine every night and had been loving and sweet, even in front of the gang.

The Cruiser's headlamps lit up the still waters of the reservoir, and Eric left them on after cutting the engine, sliding the key back one click in the ignition to keep the battery running. Donna turned the radio up to blaring, so they could hear it from the water. Jackie glided out of the backseat, leaving her door open like the others, and stood close to Michael, fingering the hem of her shirt. She didn't want to be the first one naked, but also didn't want to be the last one clothed with all eyes upon her as she got in the water.

"Race ya!" Steven said to Fez, stripping his t-shirt off his body.

"Dirty, dirty, dirt-y!" Fez chanted, working the buttons on his shirt loose.

"Come on, Jackie!" Michael said, kicking off his shoes.

Jackie made eye contact with Donna across the hood of the Cruiser. Donna shrugged, smiling, before slipping her shirt off over her head.

Kicking off her clogs, Jackie worked her jeans over her hips. Her heart was pounding in her chest, a thrill of excitement rolling in her stomach. Michael moved closer to the waters edge, slipping his jeans and boxers off in one motion and running for the dark water, the headlamps glinting off his bare ass. Jackie unhooked her bra and let it slide over her arms to the ground.

"Oooh, naked," Fez cooed, eyes focused on Jackie, who cupped her hands over her chest protectively.

"Come on, man!" Steven said, his right hand cupping his junk. Jackie's eyes widened, as a very naked Steven, shoved a very naked Fez in front of him, running past her, and down to the water. Jackie turned away once they had made it to the glare from the headlamps, trying not to focus on Steven's ass as he broke into a run, whooping into the night air.

Jackie slid her panties down her legs, her shoulders rising and falling with exhilaration. Donna was hesitating on the other side of the Cruiser, her arms crossed over her bare chest. She seemed to be debating something, her lips moving as if in a countdown.

"Last one in is a lumberjack!" Jackie hollered, running like a fiend for the water. She avoided the headlamps as much as she could, diving into the cool water with perfect form.

Donna was still by the Cruiser when Jackie surfaced, spraying a mouthful of water back into the reservoir. Eric and Michael were shoving handfuls of water at each other, Fez was staring up the bank at Donna, waiting to catch a glimpse of her naked form, and Steven was further out in the water, almost out of sight, floating on his back.

"Come on, Donna! Don't be such a wimp!" Jackie bellowed, her voice echoing off the water.

"Yeah, Donna, show us your giant jugs!" Michael yelled. Jackie began to swim towards him, anger on her face, but Eric beat her to him. Eric shoved Michael's head under the water, dunking him repeatedly, and Donna took the opportunity to race to the water, sinking into its depths. Michael came up sputtering and gasping. "Man, I got water up my nose, Forman!"

"Don't be an asshole, Michael!" Jackie called, treading water. The tips of her toes skimmed the plants growing on the silt bottom of the reservoir and she turned away from Michael, a pout on her lips.

"Jackie!" Michael began to swim over to her, his head bobbing over the rippling water. He came upon her, splashing water into her face on accident. "Don't be mad, Jackie."

Jackie wrapped her legs around Michael's waist, her hands clutching her shoulders. He supported their bodies in the water, his hair slicked back over his skull. "I didn't mean it like that, Jackie."

"Then why did you say it, Michael?" Jackie said, pouting for effect.

"Baby, it's just something guys do," Michael said, as if speaking to an angry child, mollifying Jackie.

"I don't want you to say things like that anymore," Jackie said, fingering the ends of his hair. "Ever."

"Alright, Jackie, whatever you say," Michael puckered his lips and Jackie leaned in to give him a quick peck.

Michael pulled Jackie's legs from his waist and turned to the others. "Who's up for a game of chicken? Me and Jackie, against Donna and Forman."

"Like Eric's little girl body can even support Donna," Jackie said, treading water by Michael's side.

"Burn!" Michael bellowed, pointing a finger in Eric's direction.

Steven floated close to them, still buoyed on his back. He paddled his hands in the water, cutting a path close to Jackie and Michael.

"Hyde, I can see your pecker!" Michael said, holding his hand before his eyes. He pushed out across the water towards Donna, Eric and Fez. Steven did a backstroke closer to the group.

"Ew, Steven, no one wants to see that!" Jackie agreed, as Steven neared her, turning away.

A disturbance in the water close to Jackie caused her to jump and she swung around to find Steven right in front of her, treading water and his breaths puffing across her face, warming her skin. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses, and Jackie felt her breath stutter in her chest at his proximity, but she didn't say anything. His curly hair was slicked on his forehead, and Jackie's fingers itched to push it out of his eyes. Steven's irises reflected the moonlight off the water, and Jackie drew back, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She felt like she was burning up and freezing, all at the same time.

"You sure, Jackie?" Steven whispered. He quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her response as he tread water.

Something in Jackie clicked, and she slapped a handful of water at Steven, smirking when he came away coughing. "Yes, Hyde, I am absolutely sure I don't want to see your tiny pecker."

Steven laughed between coughs, "Oh, I assure you, it's not tiny."

"Like I care," Jackie said, kicking off towards Michael. Steven followed after her, stopping next to Fez and Eric.

"No, Kelso, no chicken!" Donna said, her voice rising in annoyance.

Jackie ignored Steven, trying to get the thought of the size of his penis out of her head. If Michael couldn't think about other girls, she shouldn't be thinking about other boys.

"Hey!" Steven called out, staring up at the car. "Hey, assholes! Get back here!"

The group turned to the bank as Steven made to get out of the water. A group of teenaged boys were at the Cruiser, gathering the gang's clothing into their hands. One of them waved Donna's bra, slinging it around his pointer finger like a lasso.

"Hey, you little dicks!" Michael yelled, following behind Steven. They broke the edge of the reservoir and tore off naked up the bank.

"Fuckers!" One of the teenagers called, racing to a waiting pickup truck. They vaulted into the bed and the driver hit the gas, spraying a wave of dirt and grass into Michael and Steven's faces.

"They took our clothes!" Jackie shrieked. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Let's just get out of the damn water," Eric said.

Jackie followed after them, emerging from the water with a shiver. She covered her body with her hands and ran over to the Cruiser. Steven had his hands clasped on top of his head, staring up at Green Bay Road as the pickup roared up the asphalt. He turned, exposing himself to the others, and Jackie spun away, but not before she caught an eyeful of his body, heat rising in her cheeks. No, he wasn't tiny at all.

"Damn, Hyde, turn the hell around!" Donna cried. She crouched at the driver's side of the Cruiser, letting the metal of the vehicle shield her from their view.

"I had a whole bag of film in there!" Steven yelled, gesticulating towards the road, not bothering to cover his nakedness still.

"Oh, boo hoo," Jackie sneered, opening the front passenger's door and sliding into the Cruiser. Donna slid into the middle of the seat next to her and Eric followed, settling behind the steering wheel.

"Jackie, I know it's hard for you to wrap your little, empty, princess brain around the fact that not everyone's _daddy_ is around to shell them out money, but I just lost a whole week's worth of beer money!" Steven spluttered as he slid into the backseat behind her.

"Whatever," Jackie replied, wringing her hair out onto the seat.

"Where are we going to go? We can't go to my place," Eric said, starting up the Cruiser. "Red hates you guys when you have your clothes on."

The car was quiet, everyone assessing the situation.

"We can go to my place," Steven said from the backseat. "My mom's not home."

-x-

Steven led Donna and Jackie into Edna's closet, pulling the chain, lighting up the small walk-in. "Take your pick, ladies."

Jackie pulled the wool green blanket tighter around her body and gazed around her at the polyester hell Steven had deposited her into.

"Thanks, Hyde," Donna said, rummaging through the clothes.

Steven backed out of the closet and closed the door separating Edna's room from the living room.

"What do you think about this?" Donna asked Jackie, holding out a tube top.

"Donna, you cannot be serious," Jackie replied, riffling through the selection. Everything was too slutty, too exposing. Jackie's breasts would never fill out the low cut shirts, and it was too cold out for a tube top. As if she would ever wear a terry tube top that Edna Hyde had worn, most likely on her street corner to elicit profit for her pimp, Jackie thought with disdain, her lip curling.

"Okay," Donna said, dropping the tube top back onto the floor. She picked up a polyester halter dress and slid it over her head. "What about this?"

Jackie gave it a critical glare, her eyes roaming over the cheap dress that hugged Donna's hips and accentuated her breasts. Eric would like it, but Eric was also a child with no sense of style.

"Meh, it suits you," Jackie said, turning out of the closet into the bedroom.

"Thanks?" Donna asked, following Jackie as the latter made her way out to the living room.

The boys were lounging about the room, and Jackie made her way over to Michael, the blanket clutched in her hands.

"Michael, will you take me home?" Jackie said, coming to a stop at his side. She pressed her free hand into his thigh. "I think I caught something at the reservoir."

"Like an eel?" Michael said, waggling his eyebrows.

"No, Michael, I think I'm sick!" Jackie said, slapping his knee and pushing open the screen door and stepping out onto the porch.

Michael followed behind her a moment later, the keys to the Cruiser in his hand.

"Oh, so you're coming back?" Jackie asked, her eyes glancing off the keys.

"Well, obviously, Jackie," Michael said, moving off the porch to the parked Cruiser at the curb. "There's _free beer_."

"Fine," Jackie said getting into the passenger's seat. She slammed the door shut and propped her elbow by the window, looking out at the overgrown lawn. She could just make out Fez, and the back of Hyde's head, through the open door, before Michael pulled away from the curb and turned the car in the direction of her house.

Her skin felt flush and the wool blanket scratched at her skin. She closed her eyes and immediately opened them again as Steven's naked form was seared to the back of her eyelids.

"Jackie," Michael started, as they pulled onto Jackie's street. "Are you mad?"

"No," Jackie stated. Michael pulled into the drive, stopping at the locked gate. "Just leave me here."

"Alright," Michael said throwing the car into park. "So I'll call you later?"

"Yeah, sure," Jackie said, exiting the vehicle and slamming the door shut. Upset that Michael hadn't insisted he walk her up to her door. It's only what any good boyfriend would do, after all.

Michael reversed out of the drive as Jackie fumbled with the lock. She wasn't sure what had started her anger, exactly. Her clothes being stolen, that was a given. Michael catcalling Donna to show her boobs, definitely. But these were things that Jackie was some-what used to, stolen clothing aside. Michael had always had a thing for Donna, all the guys had. She had let it go, because Donna was loyal to Eric and vice-versa. The stolen clothes, on the other hand, she had just broken in those clogs, after two weeks of blisters. Then there was Steven. Stupid Steven.

Jackie palmed open the gate and stalked up the drive, leaving the gateway swinging. The gravel bit at the tender soles of her feet, but Jackie kept on. She swept up the porch and into the house, slamming the door behind her. The TV lit up the living room, but Jackie made for the staircase, not stopping till she had reached her bedroom.

A hot shower was definitely in order, Jackie thought, dropping the wool blanket to puddle at her feet.

She flipped on the light in her en suite and wrenched back the curtain, starting the faucet and testing the water's temperature with her fingertips.

Steven had upset her. Naked Steven, to be exact. Clothed Steven brought out emotions that she would rather keep repressed, but Naked Steven… Naked Steven made her want to act on them. Jackie's eyes slid closed and she was back at the reservoir, floating before Steven in the cool water. Only this time, she reached out and slid his hair off his forehead. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she imagined his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him in the water, bringing her body flush to his, she imagined him angling his mouth to meet hers-

"No, no, no," Jackie said standing from her perch on the side of the tub. She jerked the lever to start the shower and stepped under its spray. "Michael. Think of Michael."

But Michael was being elusive tonight. Every time she closed her eyes, Michael would evolve, losing a couple inches in height, his hair curling and turning a dark blond.

Jackie cranked the shower handle all the way over to its hottest setting, forcing herself to stand under the spray as it scalded her skin. She hated Steven Hyde. She hated this pull he had on her. He was too forward, too intriguing. She belonged with Michael, and Michael only. And as she stood beneath the waterfall of water, she formed a speech in her head, to tell Steven Hyde just where exactly he could stick his pecker; up his own ass.

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 **a/n: Hot damn! Over 7,000 words. I'm almost as surprised as y'all by that one. Anywho, thank you to the amazing people who have reviewed; I read them all and love, love, LOVE to hear what y'all guys think. If there are any grammar errors, please excuse them.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Seven**

 _I've been first and last,_

 _Look at how the time goes past,_

 _But I'm all alone at last,_

 _Rolling home to you._

June 1977

Forman's Basement

Steven stretched out in his usual chair in the basement, rolling his neck from side to side. He was the only occupant, it being early on a Sunday morning, with the Forman's having just left for church, and he had the TV switched to channel four, watching as the Little House on the Prairie opening credits flashed on the screen.

Sleeping in Eric's room was really getting to him, man. Between Eric's snoring, intermittent farting, and the awkwardness of waking up sprouting morning wood in front of another guy every a.m., not to mention the stiffness of the cot Red had given him to sleep on, Steven hadn't gotten a decent night sleep in days.

What he wouldn't give to be back in his mother's house, with no adult supervision, a baggie of weed and a six-pack of Schlitz.

Eric had a bad habit of not locking his bedroom door when he pleasured himself, and Steven swore to him if he walked in on Eric with his dick in his hand one more time, he was going to superglue them together one night. Why Forman couldn't just do what Steven did, and do his business in the shower, like a normal man, he couldn't figure out. He needed a new place to sleep, a place where he could dig into his stash whenever the need arose. And engage in his body's urges whenever they came upon him. There were only so many showers a person could reasonably take each day.

His stash was currently stuffed in the game of Life, under Candyland, biding its time till he was able to roll a joint. Red had ben suspicious of him, keeping a closer eye on he and Eric ever since Steven had moved in. The sobriety was starting to wear Steven's emotional management thin.

Steven's Zen was suffering, and he didn't like it.

He brought a steaming cup of coffee to his lips and sipped at the beverage, an "awe" falling from his mouth when Carrie tripped in the tall grass, popping up with a hand to her mouth, and taking off again for the bottom of the hill, after her sisters. Steven rested the hot cup against his thigh; focusing on the TV so diligently, he didn't notice the stampede of footsteps down the basement stairs, or the door swinging open, nearly knocking the coat rack behind it off its stand.

" _Hyde_."

Steven swiveled around, caught off guard, sloshing hot coffee onto his pajama sweat bottoms. "Fuck!"

A huff of indignation flew from Jackie's throat.

Steven looked up at her, setting his coffee cup down on the spool table. "What, Jackie?"

"I have some things to say to you," Jackie set her purse down by the record player and stepped away from the door. Steven took a moment to really look at her. She had bags under her eyes, heavily concealed with foundation and powder and her hair appeared to have not been styled. Jackie stood sentinel by the lawn chair, as if afraid to come further into the room. One bolt of lightening wouldn't make the frizzed mess of her natural curls look any worse than they looked now, rising from her skull like Medusa's snakes.

"You look like crap, Jackie," Steven observed, standing from his chair, and making his way over to the washer. He pushed his sleep pants down his legs, stepping out of them and tossed them into the washing machine. "I see you finally got rid of that rash, from the reservoir, though it hasn't really done anything for your looks, doll."

Jackie sputtered, looking away across the room. "Will you quit that?"

"Quit what? Stating facts about your looks?" Steven asked dumping a layer of powdered detergent into the washing machine and starting the dial, letting the metal lid fall closed with a bang.

"Put some damn clothes on!" Jackie screeched, her chest rising and falling in a pant.

"Why?" Steven asked, leaning against the washing machine and cocking his hip out towards Jackie. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

Jackie fixed him with an incredulous stare. "Yes." She said forcefully. "As a matter of fact, that's exactly why I'm here."

Steven stood straight, confused. "I make you uncomfortable?"

"Yes!" Jackie reiterated, slapping her hands against the sides of her hips.

Jackie began to move about, pacing in front of the record player, with her right thumbnail clenched between her teeth. Steven searched through the basket of freshly washed clothes on top the dryer, producing a pair of Forman's pajama bottoms. He shoved his legs through the openings, jerking the ties closed at his waist. They were too tight on his ass and crotch, and pooled at his feet, bunching his boxers up his thighs. Steven pulled at the fabric, feeling awkward himself.

"Jackie, I'm sorry, I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable," Steven started, genuinely confused. "I was only messing around."

"I am Michael's girlfriend, Steven," Jackie threw at him, swinging around to face him and pointing to herself. Her eyebrows were drawn down into a hard V on her forehead, and she brought her hands to her hips, knuckles white where they gripped her body. "Michael Kelso's."

Steven stood still, staring at her in confusion. "Yes…"

"You need to stop, I can't be with you," Jackie started. She came around the spool table, over to Steven and jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. "Burkhart's aren't with slum like you!"

Steven's hands rose chest level. A serious consideration if Jackie had gone off the deep end jogged across his mind. Jackie's pointer finger jabbed him harder in the center of his chest. Much more of this and he'd have a bruise on his sternum.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Steven said, slapping Jackie's hand away. His heart had begun to beat traitorously in his chest, pounding against his rib cage with such force, Jackie was sure to notice. "Who said anything about me wanting to be with you?"

Jackie filled her cheeks with air, her mismatched eyes narrowing as she considered him. Steven felt his heart skip a beat as they stared one another down. A flash of Jackie pushing her jeans down her legs bumped across his minds eye. Last weekend at the reservoir had been a night of firsts, no doubt. Jackie had seen all of him, he'd seen her looking at him, and, he had seen all of her. The reason he had floated out to the middle of the reservoir, all on his lonesome, was to hide the raging boner he'd had at the site of Jackie undressing before him, willingly and happily. Regardless of how he felt, Jackie Burkhart was hot, and he was only a man.

He shook his head, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. Getting a boner now would not help the situation at hand, and Forman's tight pajama bottoms would do nothing to conceal it.

Now that she had become clinically insane, though, he found he didn't much care to think of her naked, ever again, lest her insanity be rubbed off on him.

"Steven," Jackie started, pushing her curly hair back from her face. "What happened at the reservoir can't happen again."

Steven sucked his lips into his mouth, running his teeth over the flesh. "Come again?"

"I am Michael's girlfriend," Jackie reiterated, slowly enunciating each syllable as if speaking to an imbecile.

"No one is disputing that fact," Steven crossed his arms over his chest.

Jackie raised her hands, scoffing. "Then why did you hit on me at the reservoir?"

"What? I did not 'hit on you' at the reservoir," Steven said, beginning to grow angry. He needed a fucking joint, stat.

"Don't play stupid with me," Jackie said, her fist propped on her hip. She prodded his chest, slapping back at his hand when he slapped her own away. "We both know you did. In the water? When you talked about- well, you know what about!"

Steven felt a smile curling on his lips, his ears lifting as it spread across his cheeks. "When I talked about what, Jackie?"

Heat pooled on Jackie's cheeks, a flush rising up her neck. "When you talked about your… Ugh!" Her voice had risen to near operatic proportions, stinging his eardrums. "About your pecker!"

She had shouted the last bit, startling herself with her outburst. Her eyes flitted up to the staircase leading to the Forman's kitchen and then back to Steven. She seemed to not realize they were alone in the house.

"My 'pecker'?" Steven repeated, his voice low and deep in his throat. Jackie rolled her eyes, looking away from Steven. She shifted uncomfortably and moved to the left, plopping down onto the couch, cradling her forehead in her palm. "Did my _pecker_ frighten you? I can't imagine it being any worse than Kelso's. Is it because it's bigger than Kelso's? I know Kelso has a tiny dick, but that's no reason to flip out just because mine was out there. So was Forman's and Fez's and I don't see you ruining their Sunday morning."

"Michael has a perfect peck- His is perfect," Jackie said, shifting her weight on the couch. She seemed to lose her momentum, than sprang forward, renewed. "That's not the point, Steven! You can't hit on me like that!"

"When have I ever hit on you, Jackie?" Steven asked, leaning back against the dryer. He felt the edge in his anger harden his voice and his blood rushed in his ears. "I don't like you. The very thought of you repulses me. I mean, Kelso has had his tongue in your mouth; are you _really_ positive you know where it's been?"

Jackie focused on Steven, her face shocked. "Excuse me? Have you looked at me, Steven?" She shook her head, her eyes squeezed closed. "And enough about Michael! I know he's kissed other girls, but that was before we got together."

Steven raked his eyes over her frame, with the intention of making her feel as uncomfortable as she claimed he made her feel. He drew his eyes over her legs, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth and took a step away from the dryer, closer to the couch. Jackie's eyes widened and she drew back into the cushions.

"What Jackie?" Steven asked. "I'm just looking at you."

"Stop it," Jackie whispered, her eyes large and round.

"Why? I thought this was what you wanted."

Jackie stood from the couch on shaking legs. She moved to the record player, slinging her purse over her shoulder. She sounded close to tears when she said, "No, Steven, this is not what I wanted."

"Then what do you want, Jackie?" Steven bellowed at her, his arms extended from his sides. "You come down here, accusing me of, what, I don't know, spewing riddles at me. Get the fuck over yourself!"

"You know what you did, Steven, and you should know that I don't want you to ever do it again!" Jackie cried, snapping open the basement door. She slammed the door behind her, the panes of glass shaking in their frames, her footsteps retreating up the concrete stairs.

Steven hopped over the spool table, yanking open the door. He caught sight of Jackie crossing the threshold at the top of the stairs and yelled up at her waning shadow, "I'm not your fucking boyfriend, Burkhart! I'm not Kelso! You can't order me about like your fucking slave or one of the hired help!"

Jackie reappeared at the top of the stairs. She flew down the steps, startling Steven with the intensity in her eyes. He backed up out of the doorway as the Devil Incarnate, also known as Jackie, zoomed at him, her open palms striking him everywhere she could reach. "You are such a jerk, Steven Hyde!"

"Quit it!" Steven grasped her wrists in his hands and yanked them down to her sides. Jackie struggled against him, attempting to kick him in the shins, bringing her knees up trying to catch him in his groin. Steven pulled her flush to him, wrapping his arms around her. Jackie brought her elbow back, catching him in the stomach. Steven groaned, the wind knocked out of him.

"Why can't you just obey, like Michael does?" Jackie wheezed. She had grown still in his arms, and Steven released her, jumping back in case it was a trick and she would soon lash out at him again.

"Cause I'm not pussy-whipped," Steven stated, as though it were obvious.

Jackie made a sound in the back of her throat. "Michael is not- Michael is not like that at all!"

"Right, just like he's never cheated on you before," Steven stated sarcastically.

Steven rolled his eyes and moved over to his chair. His coffee had grown cold on the spool table and he cursed under his breath. He poured the liquid down the soak sink by the washer and turned to go up the stairs leading to the kitchen. Jackie plopped down on the couch, tossing her purse onto the cushion beside her, huffing as she pushed her mane of curls from her face.

"Make yourself at home," Steven muttered under his breath as he rounded the staircase and came into the kitchen.

He took his time, pouring a fresh cup of coffee and sitting at the breakfast table. Mrs. Forman had left a plate of donuts on the table and he chewed one thoughtfully as he read the paper, scouring over the weather and an update on the Packers. Draining the last sips of his coffee in one gulp, he stood from the table and came to the sliding glass doors, watching as the Pinciotti's reversed out of their driveway, late for church. The tires on the El Dorado wailed as Bob punched the accelerator down the street, fishtailing for a few yards before gaining traction and startling the Jones' cat. Steven watched it jet across the yard, taking refuge under some bushes.

Steven turned away from the sliding doors and took in the kitchen, reading the spines on Mrs. Forman's cookbooks and polishing off a second donut.

Pouring a second cup, Steven made for the basement stairs, pausing in the doorway. The TV was still on, another episode of Little House on the Prairie was playing, but there were no other sounds emanating from the room. He sipped at his coffee, and began to slowly descend the stairs. Steven held his breath, hoping against hope that Jackie had left the basement in his extended absence.

"Fuck." Steven cursed as he rounded the curve in the stairs.

Jackie was perched on the sofa, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. She had removed her jacket, her glazed eyes staring in front of her.

Steven stomped down the last four steps and took a seat, propping his crossed legs up on the ottoman.

"I had a whole speech planned, you know," Jackie started, her voice soft, but steady. She held her hand before her face, examining her nails. "I worked really hard on it. I don't appreciate you ruining that."

"I really don't care what you do and do not appreciate," Steven responded, staring at the television.

"Look, Steven," Jackie said, scooting forward on the couch. She gripped the arm of the sofa with both hands and fixed him with a burning stare. "Will you please look at me?"

Steven sighed, sparing a glance at Jackie and back to the television. He sipped at his coffee and attempted to tune her out, something he hadn't succeeded at in a long time.

"That isn't at all what I meant, Steven," Jackie spat, rearranging her position. "I'll just say it, what I meant to say when I showed up." "

Jackie took a deep breath, steadying herself. Her fingers picked at a tear in the fabric on the arm of the couch, but she didn't back down, keeping her focus trained on Steven. "There's something about you, and I don't know exactly what it is, but whatever it is, it needs to be buried deep, deep down inside of you. I can't keep thinking about you like this. I'm dating Michael, and thoughts of you are strictly forbidden. Just because he's cheated on me, does not mean that I will cheat on him, most especially, not with you. I don't know what you think when you look at me, if my beauty is just too much for you to handle, but you need to back off."

Steven stared at Jackie, his coffee resting forgotten on his knee. "You have got to be the most selfish person I have ever met in my entire life."

"I get it, I'm incredibly beautiful, and everyone wishes they could be this attractive," Jackie said, flipping her Medusa curls over her shoulder, continuing on as if Steven had not spoken. Even fresh out of bed and looking like hell run over, Steven was loathe to admit that more than half the girls of Point Place couldn't hold a candle to her. "But, no more, Steven. Whatever this-" she motioned between the two of them. "-is, would never work between us. We're just too different. So, quit it."

Jackie leaned back into the couch, her face drawn as if she was reviewing what she had just said. She sprang forward, slapping the arm of the couch. "And no more talk about peckers!"

"Not a problem," Steven said, standing from his chair. He walked in front of the TV over to the door leading outside and swung it open. "Get out of my basement."

"What?" Jackie said, surprised. "This isn't your basement."

"I actually live here, therefore, it's my basement," Steven said, motioning his coffee cup in a circular motion, gesturing to the room. "And I would like it if you would, please, leave."

Jackie crossed her legs. "No."

"Get out."

"No."

"Get out, now."

"No."

Steven slammed his coffee cup on the spool table, liquid splashing over the edges. Jackie's face was stone, her body rigid, refusing to back down as Steven stomped over to her. He grasped Jackie's arms and pulled her up off the couch.

"Let go of me!" Jackie screamed, biting at Steven's hands on her arms.

"You bit me!" Steven yelled back, releasing her. "You actually bit me!"

"Don't touch me, Hyde!" Jackie snatched up her purse and jacket, stomping over to the basement door. She swept out of the room, flying up the staircase and out of sight, leaving behind a scent of her perfume, hanging in the air.

Steven slammed the door shut behind her, breathing deep. She was certifiably insane. No wonder Kelso's brain cells seemed to keep diminishing.

Swiping his coffee cup from the table, he took a seat on the couch, trying to calm his anger. His hands were burning where he had touched her, the bite mark on his hand stung too. His chest rose in a pant and he stared at the exterior door, willing himself to stay seated.

 _Zen, Steven, Zen._

Who the fuck did she think she was? Accusing him of wanting her, like she had read his fucking mind. Well, that was all done and over with. If he hadn't been sure of Jackie Burkhart's conceitedness before now, it had been broadcasted across the basement without shame. She had flounced in here and ruined his Sunday morning ritual, bringing with her a flood of emotions that Steven did not want to begin to decipher. Steven glared at Laura Ingalls, wishing to reach through the screen and strangle her with those damn pigtails.

Did he want Jackie? Yes. He wanted her in the way that an itch wanted to be scratched. After he got the satisfaction of having her, he was positive that it would all just dissipate. Poof. That was usually how it happened with his sexual encounters. A couple of trysts, usually only one, and he was done. He couldn't imagine it being any different when it came to Jackie.

Did he want to date Jackie? No. Especially not now that she had shown just what the levels of crazy she harbored in her pretty little skull were.

Footsteps echoed above him. The Forman's must be home from church. Steven stood from the couch and made his way upstairs, in need of a shower. Tonight he was going to go to The Hub and find a chick to screw. Jackie Burkhart could just go fuck herself, for all he cared.

-x-

"Man, what are we doing here?" Steven said, squirming on the hard metal bleacher. "We're missing Charlie's Angels. There are hot women running in sexy slo-mo right now. I can feel it in my bones."

Michael leaned forward, cupping his hands around his mouth and called a suggestive remark down to Jackie on the track. Steven glanced at Kelso out of the corner of his eye and leaned back, resting against the metal railing. His eyes trained on Jackie, smiling and waving up at Kelso, and thick bile lifted up his throat, upsetting his stomach at the sight. Ever since Jackie had stormed into the basement last Sunday morning, he had volleyed between wanting to wring her neck and wanting to push her against a wall and kiss her senseless. Even the recent acquisition of Kat Peterson hadn't been enough to satisfy. Probably because Kat had yet to give up the goods. Much more of this, and he would have to move on to the next willing girl, one preferably more easy to get into bed.

"I have to be here, man," Kelso said, rolling his eyes.

"You have to be here? Are you chained to the bleachers?" Steven said, crossing his ankles on the empty seat in front of him. He pulled a joint from his pocket and lit it up, thanking the breeze for carrying the smell away. They were in the top most corner, farther away from the majority of the other attendee's.

Kelso held out his hand for the joint and Steven passed it over, somewhat reluctantly. Ever since Kelso had started making it with Laurie, Steven had worried about herpes. Laurie was one nasty girl. Throw Kelso in the mix, and there was no telling what kind of germs and diseases those two could produce.

"Man, Jackie is not easy to get along with," Michael passed the joint back to Steven. "If I leave now, she'll notice, like, right away, and then she won't sleep with me."

"What does that matter? Aren't you sleeping with Laurie?" Steven crossed his left arm over his stomach, propping his right elbow on his arm. He held the joint before his face but didn't toke, watching Jackie as she and Kat showed off their high-kicks.

"Well, yeah, but I actually love Jackie. Laurie is just a little fun on the side," Michael clarified.

"You are such a slut, Kelso," Steven said, chuckling. Kelso turned to him, frogging him hard on the shoulder, over and over. "Alright, alright! Give!"

Steven turned his attention back down to the field. Rick Stephenson had scored another field goal and Jackie was lined up with the other varsity cheerleaders, shaking her pom-poms and rolling her hips suggestively at the end of each chant. Bringing the joint to his mouth, Steven stared down at her behind the safety of his aviators, tuning out the rest of the game. The smoke seared his lungs and he had to fight the urge to cough on the exhale.

"I wish Jackie would wear her cheer uniform when we do it," Michael said sounding wistful. Steven whipped around to look at Kelso, shifting uncomfortably. Kelso leaned forward propping his elbows on his knees, and cupping his chin in his hand. "She's only just got back into car sex since we haven't been able to do it at her house. Apparently her parents have been fighting a lot, I don't know, I kinda tune her out when she gets on a rant. And my house is just plain dangerous, what with my brothers throwing darts left and right."

"It's not like we haven't all seen you guys going at it on the couch in the basement," Steven muttered, drawing hard on the end of the joint, turning away and gazing at the other cheerleaders. Kat Peterson's thick ponytail was swinging across her shoulder blades; Steven wondered if she had mentioned their trysts in front of Jackie, his heart fluttering at the thought of Jackie's incredulous face. The most popular girl in school- that would show Jackie that slum like he could get any girl they wanted, even the rich ones. He shook his head, bringing himself out of his reverie. "You two should really be a bit more observant. No one wants to see your bare ass, Kelso."

Kelso laughed, turning to Steven. "Yeah, I mostly do that for Fez. Give the poor guy something to go off of."

Steven looked at Kelso in disgust.

"What, how else is he going to learn?" Michael asked defensively.

Steven shifted a bit farther away from Kelso on the bleachers, and focused his attention back down to the field. He was one hundred percent positive that Jackie was unaware of this detail, and had to remind himself that he didn't care.

"Oh, hey!" Michael turned to Steven, taking the joint from his fingers. He took a small hit and said, "Jackie's having a dinner party, tomorrow night."

"So?" Steven said, snatching the joint back.

Michael cleared his throat, looking back down at the field. "So, she doesn't want it to be this big thing, right? But I figured, if I invite some people, like Timmy, and that other guy Jack, maybe Rudy and Simmons, and they invite some people, and BAM! Jackie has the party of the year!"

Steven smiled, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "A dinner party, huh?"

"Yeah, it'll be something boring as hell, I'm sure, the way Jackie has everything planned out." Steven laughed out loud, finishing the joint and tossing it down under the bleachers. "But it'll be fun once everyone else shows up. And her dad has, like, a _ton_ of great alcohol."

"Yeah, man, I know," Steven said, leaning forward, thinking back to his illicit break-ins a year or so back. Michael fixed him with a mistrustful glare. Steven cleared his throat, backpedaling quick.

"How would you know?"

Steven gestured down to Jackie on the track. "I mean, she's always bragging how rich her daddy is! Just put two and two together, man!"

"Oh, right," Michael said, pacified. "Anyway, bring Fez to Jackie's tomorrow, around nine."

Sighing, Steven stood from his seat. He patted Kelso on the shoulder and said, "I got some business to attend to under the bleachers, see you in a bit."

Steven jogged down the bleachers steps, watching his step till he reached the exit, leading to the bathrooms and concession stand tucked under the bleachers. He looked up at the track, his eyes meeting Jackie's, before he slipped away, down the ramp and to the far end of the bleachers, behind the concessions stand.

Steven took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and snapped the pack against the heel of his palm, before withdrawing one and lighting it. From his position he had a perfect view of the parking lot through the chain-link fence extending to the top of the bleachers, but couldn't see the field.

Perfect. He didn't want to be distracted by her anyway.

Steven had nearly finished his first cigarette when his first customer's arrived, a pair of freshmen by the looks of their pimply faces. But money was money, and Steven wasn't one to judge. He'd been younger than they were, the first time he'd got high.

His baggie of joints was nearly empty when the scoreboard called the end of the last quarter and the people gathered above him went wild. Point Place Viking's had garnered another 'W'. Steven shouted the price ($5 man!) to Seth Woodson, and rolled his baggie closed, stuffing it deep into his pocket. Seth handed him a crisp five and Steven exchanged it for a joint, waiting till Seth was rounding the corner on the concessions booth before adding the bill to the decent sized wad of cash he had made.

Steven stuffed the bills into the front pocket of his jeans, and made his way around the concessions stand into the crowd herded towards the parking lot. He scanned over the heads over his classmates and their family members, spotting Kelso, his head bent, presumably talking to Jackie.

Kelso and Jackie were almost to Kelso's van when Steven caught up to them, clapping a hand on Michael's shoulder and ignoring the Eat Shit And Die look Jackie sent his way. Michael was holding onto Jackie's cheer bag and pom-poms and he shoved them through the open driver's window, pushing them over the top of the headrest into the bed.

"Mind giving me a ride to Forman's?" Steven asked, meeting the pair at the front of the van.

"Uhm," Michael looked down at Jackie, who had her arm crossed over her chest, her eyebrows high on her smooth forehead. Kelso looked back at Steven. "Yeah, man, sure. Climb on in."

Jackie huffed and stalked to the passenger's side of the van, yanking the door open and plopped onto the seat, another huff leaving her lips. She slammed the door closed, crossed her arms over her chest and stared away from the two boys still standing outside the van.

"What's up her ass?" Steven asked loudly, his voice carrying through the open driver's window. Jackie visibly stiffened, her lips a hard line.

"Man, I don't know, but I hope she gets over it quick so we can do it," Kelso replied under his breath to Steven, circling over to the driver's side door.

Steven slid around the other side of the van, tapping his fingers on the passenger's window mockingly, smirking when Jackie jerked away, her focus instead out the windshield. He hopped into the bed of the van, swinging the heavy doors closed with a thud and securing the rope Kelso used as a lock to keep the doors from rolling open while the van was in motion.

Michael turned the ignition, not saying anything when Jackie immediately changed the radio to a pop station. The van was awkwardly silent as Kelso eased his way out onto Green Bay Road, following the line of traffic back into town. Steven settled down across from the van's doors, behind Michael's seat. Unfortunately, this gave him ample view of Jackie.

The Bee Gee's How Deep Is Your Love started softly playing and Jackie silently mouthed the words, her eyes focused on the road. Passing cars lit up her face and Steven looked away, his eyes scanning the bed of the van. He really needed to quit staring at her. Jackie's self esteem was already a notch too high; if she caught him staring at her, her head was likely to explode.

Steven fluffed up the cushions he was leaning against, stopping when his hand touched something out of place. He brought the pair of white cotton panties out from behind the cushion and held them up before his face on the end of his pointer finger.

Kelso stopped at a red light, drumming his fingers on the dash, his wrists resting on top of the steering wheel.

Opening his mouth to get their attention, Steven snapped his jaws together when his eyes caught the black wording on the inside tag, lit up by the street lamp.

 _Laurie Forman_

 _(435)555-2043_

The girl had balls, no doubt.

Steven looked up at Jackie, and then at Kelso, his brain working a hundred miles an hour.

Kelso was hoping to get lucky, tonight, presumably in this very van after he had dropped off Steven. Jackie sighed, glancing at Steven. Steven quickly balled up the panties, bringing his knees up to his chest. Jackie looked at him suspiciously and then turned away.

Michael turned onto the Forman's street and Steven quickly stuffed the panties back under the cushion, strategically leaving a corner of the white fabric visible. Jackie was bound to notice that, he thought, sitting back on his heels. He looked up through the windshield, as the Forman house loomed larger. Kelso pulled the van up to the curb, and threw the gearshift into park.

"Well, Hyde, buddy, I'll see you tomorrow," Michael said pointedly.

"Right, see ya later, man," Steven said scooting his butt across the shag carpeting. He released the rope lock and stepped out of the van. Jackie turned in her seat, refastening the makeshift lock, her eyes downcast. "Later, Jackie."

Steven walked around the front of the van and up the driveway. The engine in Kelso's van groaned as he pulled away from the curb and puttered down the street. At the stop sign the engine back-fired, a large cloud of black smoke blowing out the exhaust pipe.

Once they were out of sight, Steven crept back down the driveway, standing at the hedge line separating the Forman's from the Pinciotti's. He lit another cigarette and gazed up and down the street.

Man, Kelso had to get caught sooner or later. He felt bad for Jackie, looking like a fool, the only one who didn't know about Kelso and Laurie. The other's made a joke of it, laughing behind her back, hoping against hope that once Michael was exposed for his infidelities, Jackie would stop coming into the basement and give them all much needed peace. Well, except maybe Fez. He still wanted Jackie around, to stare at and lust after like a dog after a bone.

Finishing his cigarette, Steven walked out to the curb, dropping the spent cigarette on the asphalt and stamped the butt out with the toe of his boot. He turned back up the drive, towards the brightly lit sliding doors and hoped tonight was the night that Michael Kelso was finally caught red-handed by one Jackie Burkhart.


	8. Chapter 8

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Eight**

 _Well, woke up this morning with a wine glass in my hand.  
Whose wine? What wine? Where the hell did I dine?  
Must have been a dream I don't believe where I've been.  
Come on, let's do it again._

 _Do you...you, feel like I do?  
How'd ya feel?_

 _-Do You Feel Like We Do,_ Peter Frampton

-x-

The van backfired the whole of the way down Marie Street, drawing attention from the neighbors and passing vehicles. Michael gunned it onto Franklin, the van sputtering the whole time, jerking forward sporadically. Jackie slouched in her seat, her hand shielding her face from view, staring out the side mirror as the Forman's house faded, the dark shadow of Steven receding up the drive. She felt a blush stain her cheeks as a belt on the van began to squeal. It was one thing that everyone knew this was Michael's piece-of-crap van, but to actually _see_ her riding shotgun was something completely different. Jackie Burkhart was rich; she didn't ride around in vehicles that threatened to fall apart at any minute.

"Dammit!" Michael cursed, revving the gas as the van began to lose speed. A station wagon behind them honked their horn, before whipping around the van, a fist shaking at them from the open driver's window. The engine whined, a deep wail filling the cabin and Michael pumped the pedal, whooping when the van jumped to life, roaring onto Green Bay Road. Michael rubbed the dash affectionately, leaning over to press a wet kiss to the steering wheel. "That's it baby, keep on purring my girl!"

"I thought I was your girl, Michael?" Jackie asked sweetly, sweeping her fingers up and down his arm.

"Oh, yeah, of course you are, Jackie," Michael said quickly, reaching over to pat her thigh. "And as my most special girl, you get to decide where we go to do it!"

Jackie sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat, staring out the window. So much for sweet-talking. It seemed lately all Michael cared about was finding a place to do it. He blatantly didn't listen to her and grew frustrated when she asked him about his day, stumbling over his schedule and quickly changing the subject. Jackie pressed her forehead to the cool window. "I don't care, Michael."

"Mount Hump?"

"Ew, no." Jackie drew away from the window and scowled.

"The alley behind The Hub?" Michael threw out.

"Anyone could see us there, Michael," Jackie admonished.

"Ok, well, how about we just go back to the school parking lot?" Michael suggested as they passed the elementary school.

"Again, Michael, anyone could see us," Jackie was growing annoyed; she crossed her arms and legs tightly and pouted.

"Well, damn, Jackie!" Michael cried, huffing dramatically. Jackie glanced at Michael out of the corner of her eye and felt a brief, uncharacteristic bought of guilt. She shook her head, dispelling the unpleasant feeling, and hoping she never was plagued with it again. Then a thought struck her.

"Why can't we just go back to my house? Or yours, for that matter?" Jackie spat, her voice full of accusation.

Michael rolled his shoulders, his brown eyes fixed on the road. He gestured out the windows, his mouth working to speak. "Jackie, we're already out. If we go to either one of our houses, we have to mingle with parents and then it'll be too long before I can do it with you."

"It's like all you want from me is sex, Michael." Jackie said. "You are such a pig."

"Jackie…" Michael licked his lips. His voice sounded tired and his shoulders were drawn down over his body. He sounded a million miles away when he whispered, "I don't want to fight anymore."

Sighing again, Jackie unbuckled her seat belt, and unclasped her hair from its ponytail, shaking it out across her shoulders. She leaned across the console and skipped her fingers up Michael's jean-clad thigh. She nuzzled her nose against his skin, behind his ear, smiling like a cat with a bowl of cream as Michael's breathing hitched. She bit down on his ear lobe and cupped her hand over his crotch, rubbing against his growing erection, her need for a physical release rising exponentially. "I'm sorry, baby. Take me somewhere, I need you, Michael. _Now._ "

"No worries," Michael groaned, speeding through a yellow light. "I know _exactly_ where to go."

-x-

Jackie sighed into Michael's kiss, wrapping her legs about his hips, pulling him closer. They had parked the van by the reservoir, and Michael had been quick to guide Jackie to the bed of the van, pulling her into a heated make out. Michael swept his chilly fingers up her stomach, under her cheer sweater and pressed his hips down into hers, rocking his pelvis.

"Come on, Jackie," Michael panted in her ear, leaving a trail of wet kisses on her skin. He pulled back to look her in the eyes, his fringe hanging in his brown eyes.

"Yes, Michael?" Jackie asked sweetly, sweeping her fingers over his forehead. A heat had settled across her chest, and she angled her hips to rock up into Michael's. He smirked and wet his lips.

"I want you…" Michael whined, rocking his hips harder into hers. His fingers slid further up her sweater and gripped at her breast awkwardly. Her cheer uniform had been tailored tightly over her chest, not that Michael would let that stop him. "It's been, like, since yesterday morning."

"I want this to be magical, Michael, slow and passionate!" Jackie giggled, sliding her hands down his back over his soft t-shirt. Michael returned to her neck, letting the flat of his tongue leave a stream of saliva up her skin. Jackie slapped at Michael's shoulder blade, annoyance quickly taking over her giddiness. "Can you quit with the licking? I'm going to be all crusty and sticky!"

"But I thought you liked being licked?" Michael said, pulling away to look her in the eyes. His face was pulled into a look of confusion, and he gazed thoughtfully at her. He seemed to come to a conclusion of sorts, his eyes widening momentarily and his legs shifting, as he did when he was uncomfortable or telling a lie. "Oh, never mind."

"What?" Jackie asked, her eyebrows drawn in suspicion. She pushed his hips away from her, drawing her legs up to her stomach. "What did you do, Michael?"

Michael sat up, pulling Jackie's hips up onto his thighs. His fingers undid the button and zipper at the side of her cheer skirt and began to work it down over her hips. He paused, running a hand through his feathered hair. "Oh, nothing, it must have been from one of my sexy dreams of you. You know, the ones where I am the Apollo Rocket of Love and I make you orgasm like a million times!"

"Michael." Jackie said, crossing her arms over her chest as Michael removed her cheer skirt completely, tossing it over his shoulder. His fingers returned to her body, hooking onto the waistband of her cheer bloomers. Jackie could feel her pulse beat erratically in her ears.

"Jackie, enough of this talking," Michael said, yanking her bloomers down her legs roughly. He tossed them haphazardly towards the front of the van, pulling Jackie down the shag carpeting closer to him. She hissed at the burn of the carpet on her skin, her cheer sweater pushed uncomfortably up her back. "I want you. I need you, Jackie."

Michael leaned over her, capturing her mouth in a kiss. Jackie sighed into his caress again, closing her eyes. Tension had built up in the pit of her stomach; she was desperate for a release.

"Put on a condom," Jackie whispered impatiently, breaking away from Michael's kiss and pushing at his shoulders.

Jackie's gaze swept around the bed of the van as Michael pushed his pants down his legs and rolled on a condom. She arranged the cushions so they were once again under her head, pulling her hand away quickly when she pressed against something out of place. There was no telling what Michael had collected in here, probably some disgusting toy he had used to play with a dog. Or worse.

Jackie fanned her hair out on the cushion, hoping she looked as alluring as she felt. Michael turned back to her, and pressed his mouth insistently against hers, hooking her legs up around his narrow hips. He pressed deep kisses to her mouth, slipping his tongue between her lips. Jackie moaned into his mouth, pressing her tongue back against his, eager to get started. Michael's body was heavy over hers, his hot breath panting into her shoulder as sweat slicked her skin, a mixture of hers and Michael's and clung to her cheer sweater. Jackie gasped when Michael entered her, quickly setting a brisk pace. She swept her hands up his back, pushing his t-shirt up and dragged her nails down his skin roughly.

Michael drew back with a hiss of pain. "Easy there, tiger!"

"What's the matter?" Jackie panted, running the pads of her fingers over his back, feeling the raised marks her fingers had made and pausing at the feel of a series of long, thin scabs all across his skin. "What happened to your back, Michael?"

"Oh, uh," Michael pushed his hair out of his eyes, shifting position without withdrawing from Jackie. "It was Casey and John Jr., they used me as a target."

"A target? For what?" Jackie said, her eyebrows drawing together on her smooth forehead.

"Yeah, a target, for, uh. For uh- a target for throwing knives!" Michael burst out, looking pleased with himself. The corner of his mouth lifted up into a smile and his eyes twinkled down at Jackie. His hips began to rock again, sending a flush across Jackie's cheeks. "They grazed me with a knife and then mom and dad came home and it was a huuuuuuge fight. I'm lucky I didn't lose a finger! Or worse!"

"Oh, Michael!" Jackie cooed, threading her hands in his hair. "You are so brave!"

"Yeah," Michael agreed, guiding himself back into a quick pace, sliding in and out of her swiftly. Jackie smiled up at him, pulling him down into another kiss.

"I love you, Michael," Jackie whispered into his shoulder, biting lightly at the fabric.

"I love you too," Michael moaned back, his eyes squeezed shut.

Michael buried his face into her neck once more, groaning as he neared his climax. Jackie moaned in reply, her eyes tightly closed. Her orgasm was close, so close. She clutched at Michael as he came, shuddering over her. She rocked her hips, hoping to elicit Michael to keep moving within her. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he panted, his body relaxed and heavy on her own. He kissed her mouth briefly before pulling out of her, leaving Jackie feeling hollow. Michael patted the side of her thigh and fell back onto the shag carpeting, sending the van pitching from side to side.

Tension flooded back into Jackie's body, a chill settling over her skin in Michael's absence. Her fingers drew over her stomach and she huffed with frustration. Michael was cleaning himself up, pulling his boxers on when Jackie sat up, still horny and wanting release.

"Michael…" Jackie cooed, coming onto her knees and sashaying her way over the shag carpeting. She drew her pointer finger down his chest, circling a nipple through his shirt and making her way down to his crotch. Her fingers grazed his penis through his boxers and Michael gasped as if in pain and pulled away.

"Oh, no, Jackie, you know how sensitive Pink Floyd is after we do it," Michael chuckled, pulling his jeans over his boxers.

"But what about me?" Jackie cried, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She sat back on her heels and fixed Michael with a penetrating glare.

"Jackie, I'm just not in the mood now," Michael said pleadingly, looking up at her through his fringe. "Next time, ok?"

"Michael! That's not how lovemaking is supposed to be! You should _want_ to make me come too!" Jackie said, heat prickling at her eyes. She grabbed at her cheer skirt, her eyes sweeping the bed of the van for her bloomers. Michael began to crawl up to the front of the van. "Where are my panties?"

"Jackie, I'm sorry, it's just, its weird, ok?"

"What is weird about it, Michael?" Jackie asked, nearly screaming her frustration. "Don't you _care_ about how I feel?"

"Well, I mean, I'm just not in the mood anymore, Jackie, but give me like twenty minutes and me and Pink Floyd will be ready to go again." Michael said, ignoring the last of Jackie's questions. He flipped his fringe from his eyes, his brown eyes gazing around the van.

"That is so selfish of you, Michael," Jackie said, willing the tears to subside. "You are the most selfish, stupidest man I have ever met. I can't believe I waste my time on you."

"Jackie- I, look, you do a ton of things that I don't want to do and I don't complain about any of it, or call you names," Michael threw back.

Michael stopped near the cushions, pulling a pair of white panties out from under them. He held them out to Jackie, "Here," then his eyes widened in recognition and he yanked his arm away, gripping the white fabric tightly in his grasp. He toppled over the console into the driver's seat and stuffed the panties into his front pocket.

"Who's are those?" Jackie yelled, pulling her skirt over her legs. She made her way up to the front of the van, snatching her forgotten bloomers into her hand as she passed. She slapped the back of Michael's head as hard as she could. He yelped, rubbing his fingers over his skull. "Michael Kelso! Who's panties are those?!"

Jackie slipped her bloomers on, and climbed over the console into the passenger's seat. Michael was busy turning the key in the ignition, cursing when the starter failed to turn over. He slapped his palms against the steering wheel and groaned in frustration.

"Look, Jackie," Michael said, looking up out of the windshield. He chewed on his lower lip. "I, uh, loaned the van to John Jr., he must've brought a girl in here!"

"John Jr. has a Camaro. Why would he need your stinky van?" Jackie leaned towards Michael from her seat. She slapped her hand as hard as she could against Michael's arm when he failed to come up with a quick response. Michael cried out and briefly ran his hand over his arm where she had assaulted him.

"Right," Michael spoke through clenched teeth, running a hand through his hair. "But the Camaro was in the shop."

Jackie raised her eyebrows. Michael renewed his attempts to start the van, whooping when it started with a roar. He threw the gears in reverse, hightailing it away from the reservoir and fishtailing onto Green Bay Road. Jackie slid back into her seat, her eyes never leaving Michael. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breaths leaving in a rapid pant. The crotch of her bloomers was soaked and she wanted to punch something, or someone, anything to release the levels of frustration and sexual tension that were pulsating through her body in waves. Tears clung to the corners of her eyes and blurred her vision. She spun around in the seat, away from Michael, staring out the passenger window without seeing as Point Place sailed by.

"Look, Jackie, I would never cheat on you, you know that," Michael said, eyes still focused straight ahead. "I promised you after Pam Macy that I would never do anything like that ever again."

That was true, Michael had promised. But something told Jackie to not be so easily fooled. John Jr. and Michael had the worst relationship of any of his siblings; they never asked each other for anything, preferring to steal each other's possessions with the intent to ruin or destroy it. If John Jr. had borrowed the van, he would've had an orgy in the back, had the wood paneling painted pink and stolen the new radio out of the dash that Michael had installed just last week. Jackie took stock of the van. Everything appeared to be in the same condition it had always been in, tacky and smelling of cat pee.

Michael sped into town and didn't slow once they had reached Jackie's neighborhood, barely coming to a complete stop at stop signs and taking the corners so fast, the van nearly toppled over.

"Michael, I want to believe you, I really do." Jackie finally acquiesced, her voice hard to mask the sound of her impending tears.

"Then do it, Jackie," Michael whined, screeching to a stop at the curb before Jackie's house. He put the van in park and hung his head down over the steering wheel. Michael scratched at the back of his neck and looked up at Jackie, his eyes roaming her form. He made a face, pouting at her and batted his eyelashes. "Would this face lie to you?"

Jackie scowled and made to leave the van.

"No, Jackie, wait," Michael said, grasping her upper arm. He swallowed thickly and tossed his fringe out of his eyes with a jerk of his head. Michael leaned across the console and rubbed his thumb up and down her bicep. "Jackie, I love you. I don't want you to be mad at me."

"I don't know what to feel right now, Michael. I need a drink, a bath and time," Jackie said, pulling her arm away and opening her door. She slammed the passenger door closed and banged on the doors to the bed of the van, stepping back when Michael released the rope lock. Michael slid her cheer bag and pom-poms across the bed of the van and watched as Jackie gathered the items into her arms, slinging her bag across her shoulder.

"I'll call you later?" Michael called hopefully as Jackie walked away, leaving the van doors open.

Jackie flounced through the open front gates, slamming them closed behind her. She called back over her shoulder, "Whatever!" and continued up the gravel drive, kicking up the little gray pebbles as she sped towards the porch. She heard Michael curse as he closed the van doors.

The van backfired when Michael pulled away from the curb, the tires screeching halfway down the street. The porch light was off, and Jackie tripped up the steps, blinking back tears and adjusting her grip on her pom-poms to swing open the front door. Jackie slammed the door behind her, and dropped her cheer bag onto the parquet flooring. She swept her hands over her hair, smoothing the curls and kicked off her saddle shoes, flinging them across the foyer with wanton force. They pinged off the wainscoting, sailing across the polished wooden floors and stopping pell-mell in the entryway. Jackie tore her socks off, throwing them down onto the floor by her cheer bag, as a scream of indignation made its way up her throat. Her fingers clutched at the roots of her hair and she stomped her foot, the force of it echoing up her leg and into her abdomen.

Donna Summer was blaring from the living room and Jackie stomped her way over to the double doors, stopping in the entrance with a scowl on her face. Pam was pouring a glass of wine at the wet bar, her hips swaying to and fro. Her mother shook her mane of hair over her shoulders, drinking deep from her wine glass.

Wine. That's what Jackie needed. She took a deep breath, the tears that had threatened to fall just moments ago, lubricating her eyes.

"Mom?" Jackie called over the music.

"Oh!" Pam said, turning to her daughter with a smile on her face. Pam turned down the record, a wide smile on her lips. "You're home! How was the game?"

"It was alright, we won," Jackie offered, stepping into the living room and stomping over to the couch. A pout was drawn over her lips and she had to remind herself to relax before she formed premature wrinkles. She massaged the tips of her fingers over her cheeks and around her temples.

"What's wrong, Sugar?" Pam slurred, taking a gulp of wine and coming to sit by Jackie. "Did you and Michael get into a fight?"

Jackie swallowed thickly as new tears welled in her eyes. She didn't want to cry, especially in front of her mother. Pam Burkhart didn't like it when Jackie got emotional. "I don't know what exactly happened, mom."

"Well, then. You know what will help you feel better?" Pam said, leaning close to Jackie. Jackie's nostrils were filled with the stench of wine and perfume. She blinked rapidly, happy when the tears seemed to soak back into her body. Pam's manicured fingers slapped onto Jackie's bare thigh, stinging her skin.

"What?" Jackie said, pushing Pam's hand away and rubbing at her smarting flesh.

Pam grabbed Jackie's hand, pulling her up off the couch. She guided her over to the wet bar, nearly tripping over the ornate coffee table. Tipping back her head, Pam polished off her glass and smiled broadly at her daughter. "A glass of wine and dancing away your troubles with your gorgeous mother!"

Jackie stood impatiently at the wet bar, drumming her fingers against the smooth black marble, eagerly accepting the newly poured glass of wine from her mother. The liquid was dry in her mouth and Jackie pulled a face as she forced herself to swallow. She gulped more at her glass of wine, finishing it in under a minute. Pam poured Jackie another glass, and refilled her own, before moving back to the record player and turning the music up to blaring. The gilded picture frames on the walls shook on the walls, thumping in time with the music. Jackie pushed her hair out of her face and watched as Pam began to dance and shimmy about.

Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" pulsed through the living room, pounding in Jackie's eardrums and she felt her body become warm with wine as she gave over to the music, swaying her hips in time to the beat. The shag carpet was plush on her feet and Jackie dug her toes in deeper. Pam sipped at her glass of wine, her eyes closed, and she spun around the room, running her free hand through her thick hair. Pam mouthed the words, swinging her hips as she moved away from the record player, using the back of the couch as a crutch.

Jackie took a long sip at her wine and let her arms extend to her sides, rolling her shoulders and closing her eyes languidly. She let Donna Summer's voice reach into her, down to the tortured threads of her heart, relishing the tingling feeling that started in her finger tips and toes and extended up her limbs the more she drank. The wine didn't taste quite so terrible now, Jackie admitted to herself, sipping more at her steadily emptying glass. With every drink, she felt Michael slipping farther and farther away. Pretty soon, it would be like he'd never existed in her life at all. The lying, cheating, stupidest man she had ever laid eyes on.

Pam twirled by Jackie, wine sloshing over the lip of her glass and onto the white carpet. Her deep singing voice was belting out the lyrics and she stopped dancing only to drink from her wine. Pam bumped hips with Jackie as she passed, swinging her hair back and forth across her shoulders. Jackie was growing breathless as the song progressed, her body feeling lighter and lighter with each sip of wine she took. Donna Summer's voice was uplifting and deep and soulful and Jackie savored in the feeling of carefree happiness that embodied her.

"I feel love, I feel love, I feel love, I feeeeel love," Pam trilled, extending her arms and rolling her shoulders, her head falling back so she gazed up at the ceiling, her gyrations slowing only slightly. She polished off her glass and flounced over to the wet bar, pouring a new glass. Pam turned from the bar, the wine bottle clutched in her free hand. "Jacqueline!"

Jackie spun towards her mother. Pam waved the nearly empty bottle of wine and Jackie held her glass out in silent response. Her mother emptied the bottle into Jackie's glass and set it on the end table closest to them. She took Jackie's free hand and motioned for her to twirl, laughing with Jackie as her daughter spun around and around, becoming more and more dizzy. Jackie couldn't remember the last time her mother had included her in one of her drunken dance parties, spinning her like a ballerina around the living room.

"Oh, I need to stop," Jackie said, pulling away from Pam and opening her eyes as wide as she could, hoping that would help the room to stop revolving. Her free hand was pressed to her forehead and her gaze swept around the room, willing her jumping stomach to calm down. Her brain throbbed in her skull and her eyes burned under the bright overhead lights.

Pam plopped onto the sofa with a loud sigh. She drained half her wine in two gulps and patted the cushion next to her. Jackie fell to the couch next to her mother, resting her head on Pam's shoulder. The record clicked, the arm swinging back into place allowing Jackie's mind to wander back to her boyfriend. That handsome prick who, apparently, brought other girls into his tacky van.

"I think Michael is cheating on me," Jackie blurted. She jerked up straight and took a large swig from her wine. Her stomach lurched and she coughed as she swallowed, cursing as some liquid went down her windpipe. Now that she had said it out loud, it sounded ludicrous; Michael wouldn't cheat on her. He had promised. Jackie chewed on her lower lip, swirling the remaining wine in her glass.

"Oh, Sugar, why would you think that?" Pam said. She tucked her feet up under her on the couch and turned towards her daughter. Pam's eyes were unfocused and she traced her fingers in circles over her thighs. Jackie coughed for a few more seconds, gasping for breath. A manicured hand patted lightly at Jackie's back, once, twice then fell away.

"Well," Jackie started, wiping at her eyes. Why had she said anything? She should've just kept it to herself, and talked to Donna about it in the morning, like she had planned. "There were a pair of panties in the back of the van, not mine, and Michael claimed that must be one of John Jr.'s tramps, but I just don't know," Jackie explained. She held the rim of her glass to her lips but didn't drink. "I mean, I want to believe him, but my heart keeps telling me to dig deeper. You know?"

"Jacqueline," Pam started, her tone unimpressed. She took a sip of her wine, smacking her lips after she swallowed. Long fingers threaded through highlighted hair and Pam seemed distracted for a moment as her manicured nails scratched at her scalp. Pam cleared her throat and fixed brown eyes on her daughter. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Ugh, Mom," Jackie turned away, anger renewed.

"All I'm going to say is, I'm sure Michael wouldn't cheat on you," Pam said, rolling her eyes and settling into the cushions. "Men don't cheat on Burkhart women. We are too beautiful to be cheated on. Michael knows this." Pam leaned forward and patted Jackie's knee, winking at her. "I wouldn't worry about it."

Jackie didn't say anything, thinking over her mother's words. Her heart was throbbing in her chest and all she could see was Michael innocently holding out a pair of panties that didn't belong to her. Maybe he was telling the truth… After all, he had promised, and a promise was a promise and who would ever understand her the way Michael did? They were beautiful together. Well, they _looked_ beautiful together at least. And really, what more was there?

Pam hiccupped and stood from the couch. She stumbled over to the record player and flipped the vinyl, starting to dance again as the room was filled with music.

Jackie tipped back her head, finishing the last of her wine and stood from the couch on wobbling legs. She stumbled out of the living room, tripping on the Persian rug in the hall and coming down to her knees, hard. Pam's voice drifted out to her from the living room, along with the sound of breaking glass.

"Oh, shit," Jackie whispered, breaking out into giggles, her palms pressed into the soft Persian carpet. She tried to stand again, falling gracefully back to her knees when her stomach threatened to projectile up her throat and across the freshly waxed floors. "Whoops!"

She began to crawl down the foyer hall on her hands and knees, her head spinning in lazy circles. Her shoes blocked her path and Jackie palmed them out of the way, sliding them across the foyer to lie somewhere else. Jackie slinked up the stairs, swaying from side to side as she neared the landing. She began to sing I Feel Love under her breath, willing her mind to keep off the fact that her belly was currently waging war with her gag reflex. Her stomach reeled again and she gagged as bile slid up her throat, resting on the back of her tongue. Cresting the top of the stairs, Jackie crawled to her bedroom door, reaching blindly above her head for the knob. She pushed the door open with her shoulder, creeping in the darkness across the plush white carpet to her bed.

Donna Summer's dulcet voice echoed up through the floor as Jackie pulled herself onto her bed, groaning as she fought to pull down her duvet without the need to come up into a sitting position. Her stomach was pitching in her belly as if she were on the high seas and her brain throbbed behind her eyeballs. She remembered Michael and the white panties as she drifted off, momentarily shaking herself awake, renewed anger fighting with her desire to puke. She huffed indignantly and groaned again as her stomach vaulted in her belly. The phone at her bedside table began to ring shrilly and Jackie reached for the receiver, her arm weighted down with alcohol. It was probably Michael, calling like he'd promised. Jackie groaned, burping bile into her mouth. She swallowed and felt tears sting her eyes, her arm draped off the side of the bed.

"Tomorrow," Jackie announced to her empty room, her tongue working to enunciate. "I'll worry about it tomorrow."

-x-

Jackie stormed down the pavement towards The Hub, swallowing thickly when her stomach dipped and rolled, willing herself to not throw up again, especially not in public where anyone could see. She was Jackie Burkhart; she didn't throw up in public like some common slut. She did it in the privacy of her pink bathroom, where her stuffed unicorn, Fluffycakes, kept her company on the bathroom floor and she had a toothbrush handy. She had spent the better of the morning wrapped around her pink porcelain toilet bowl, regurgitating stomach bile and wine, and crying as her diaphragm squeezed her lungs and her abdominal muscles pulsed with each heave.

Pausing on the sidewalk, her hand pressed to her stomach, Jackie tossed her hair back from her shoulders and soldiered on. She was a Burkhart, dammit.

The Hub's parking lot was mostly empty and Jackie's eyes swept across the restaurant as she flounced through the entrance, almost immediately spotting Donna and Hyde sat at a table in the back corner. Jackie stalked over to them, shoving Buddy Morgan out of the way in her haste. She plopped down in the vacant chair around the small table, ignoring the way The Hub had gotten conspicuously quiet at her entrance.

"I need your help," Jackie said by way of greeting, her eyes shifting from Donna to Hyde and back. "Well, more like, I need your advice."

"Yes, I do think you should get tested for VD," Hyde said, leaning back in his chair, popping a few French fries into his mouth.

Tears welled in Jackie's eyes and a whimper left her lips.

"Oh, God, do you have VD?" Hyde said awkwardly, reaching for his drink. His face was incredulous as Jackie burst into wild, unabashed tears, burying her face in her hands, smearing streaks of mascara over her skin. His eyes scanned the restaurant, his cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"Jackie!" Donna placed her hand on Jackie's arm, rubbing her palm in sympathetic waves, trying to calm, and quiet, the hysterical girl next to her. She met Hyde's bewildered gaze across the table and shrugged, unsure of herself. "What's happened? Do you-you know, have VD? Oh my God, don't tell me you think you're pregnant again."

Steven shifted uncomfortably, smoothing his palms down his thighs. "Look, maybe I should go."

"No!" Jackie cried, looking up from her palms and latching onto Hyde's wrist. "I need to talk to you!"

"To me? You have Donna!" Hyde countered, gesturing to Donna across the table from him. He pulled at his wrist, trying to detach the hysterical girl, his heart pounding in his chest.

"To the both of you!" Jackie hiccupped, her grip on Hyde's wrist unwavering in its vigor. She looked between the two of them. "It's about Michael."

Hyde sighed and pulled out of Jackie's grasp. "I'm definitely out of here."

"Hyde, shut up!" Donna reprimanded. "What about Kelso?"

Jackie looked up at the white paneled ceiling, breathing deep and willing the tears to stop flowing. She shook out her hands, and ran the tips of her fingers under her eyes, hoping her face wasn't as puffy as it felt. Her stomach rumbled and she mentally berated her body for being so weak. And, also, her mother for tricking her into being a lush.

"I think Michael is cheating on me," Jackie announced, a sense of calm briefly resting over her body.

Donna and Hyde's gaze met the others, their lips drawn in a hard line. Steven cleared his throat and glanced at Jackie, then back at Donna, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. Jackie felt her pulse quicken and her breath come out in short pants. They knew something.

"Why would you think that?" Steven asked, grabbing at the basket of fries in front of Donna.

"Yeah," Donna piped in. "Kelso loves you. Oh, and didn't he, like, promise to never cheat on you again after the whole Pam Macy thing?"

"I know," Jackie exclaimed, balling her fists in frustration. "But see, last night, in the back of the van-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, if this is turning into some story about how Kelso gave you VD, I really don't want to hear it," Steven said, making to stand from the table. Jackie slapped him hard in the stomach, feeling an odd sort of satisfaction when he grunted in pain and fell back into his seat. His eyes glared at her from behind his sunglasses and his hand rubbed at his smarting skin. "Damn, woman!"

"Michael hasn't given me VD!" Jackie cried, noticing a few of the patrons closer to them turn to look at her excitedly. This kind of gossip was pure gold "At least, I don't think so. Anyway! That's not the worst of it!"

"Get to the point, Jackie," Donna said, exasperated. She picked at her fries, dipping them in ketchup and looked at her best friend wearily.

"I found a pair of panties in the back of the van," Jackie exhaled hard, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked from Steven, who stared blankly back, to Donna, who chewed on her lower lip. Steven's foot began to bounce with suppressed tension.

"Jackie, weren't you the one to tell me that you shouldn't leave your panties in your boyfriends car?" Donna said finally, a smile on her lips.

"Duh, Donna!" Jackie slapped her open palm on the table, sending it into a severe list, the basket of fries nearly cascading to the floor. "They weren't mine!"

The Hub was momentarily silent again at Jackie's outburst. Steven gazed around at the other occupants, nodding his head with pursed lips. The Hub began to buzz again and Jackie felt her heart stutter in her chest.

Donna cradled her basket of fries in her arm, picking at the fried potatoes and steadfastly avoiding Jackie's piercing gaze. Jackie looked to Steven who was picking at a small hole in the thigh of his jeans. Jackie reached over, hooking her pointer finger into the rip and pulled roughly, spreading the hole from seam to seam across Steven's knee. Why weren't they as surprised by the news, as she was to have found the panties?

"What the hell, man?" Steven yelled, slapping her hand away. "These are my favorite pair of jeans!"

"Why aren't you guys surprised? Like at all?" Jackie felt her stomach pitch in her stomach, a whole new level of nausea rising in her system. Her nerves were frazzled, and she felt hot tears press at her eyes.

"Look, Jackie," Donna said, leaning forward, her blue eyes intense. "I'm sure they weren't from Kelso, I mean, what did he tell you when you found them?"

"That he let John Jr. borrow the van and it must be from one of his slutty whores."

"Man, I cannot wait to get my own set of wheels," Steven intervened, his voice wistful. "It's getting tiring having to sneak girls in and out of the basement all the time."

Jackie scowled at Hyde. "No one cares about you and your slut parade, Hyde."

Steven raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

"So why would that make you think Kelso is cheating on you?" Donna asked, dipping a fry in ketchup before popping it in her mouth.

"Uh, hello? John Jr. and Michael have, like, the worst relationship," Jackie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That is true. Once when Forman and me were there, John Jr. gave Kelso the worst Indian burn I have ever seen," Steven reminisced, swiping his soda off the table. "Man, Kelso even bled, it was that intense."

"Thank you!" Jackie exclaimed, fixing Donna with an I-Told-You-So look.

Donna rolled her eyes. "I'm still not convinced that automatically means Kelso is cheating on you."

"You never agree with me, Donna, it's like you care more about Michael than about me." Jackie said, actual hurt in her voice.

"Alls I'm saying is, it could be the truth!" Donna defended, looking to Hyde for support.

"Yeah, but John Jr. has the Camaro, why would he want Kelso's stinky van?" Hyde disputed, scratching at his cheek. He crossed his leg at the knee and chewed on the straw to his cup. His free hand drummed his fingers on his thigh erratically.

Jackie stared at Steven gratefully. He may be a burnout loser, Led Zeppelin loving, poor person, but he was on her side. And right now, that trumped any feelings of animosity Jackie made herself feel whenever she had to interact with him. Jackie slid her chair closer to the table, relishing in the proximity of Steven's leg, the heat of it soaking into her own. She smiled at him and suppressed the urge to reach across the sticky tabletop to kiss him. "Thank you, Steven! See, Donna?"

Donna was glaring at Hyde, her eyes narrowed. Steven sighed theatrically and rolled his eyes. Hyde set his cup on the table and uncrossed his legs, his knee pressing into her thigh, as he turned to face Jackie. He rubbed his pointer finger and thumb at the corners of his mouth and stared down at the floor before making eye contact with her. "Look, Jackie, Kelso wouldn't cheat on you."

"Really?" Jackie asked, staring at Steven without blinking, hoping that whatever conviction she heard in his voice would be transferred to her. Steven gripped her knee, shaking her leg slightly. His eyes bored back into her own from behind his shades and Jackie lost track of the others around her. Steven was like an island, and she was drowning, desperate to reach salvation.

"Yeah, man," Steven said, a endearing smile on his lips. Jackie's eyes flicked down to his lips and back to his eyes. "You've got Kelso whipped, his balls are clenched in the palm of your hand, man, he's not _man_ enough to dare cheat on you now."

Jackie pressed her hand to her heart, the other coming to rest on top of Steven's still on her knee. "Thanks, Steven. I knew you must be good for _something._ "

"Right," Steven said, the spell broken, patting her knee and leaning back in his chair. He sat back in his chair and drew a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Pass the ashtray, Donna."

"Hyde, not where we eat," Donna said, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Whatever, man," Steven said, standing from the table. "I'm out of here, got a shift at the Fotohut. I'll see you guys later."

Jackie watched Steven leave The Hub, sighing dejectedly. The brief feeling of happiness she had garnered from Steven's words was dissipating into the air. Donna placed the empty fry basket on the table and looked from Jackie to Steven's retreating form making its way across The Hub's parking lot. 

"What's gotten into you?" Donna asked suspiciously. "I thought you were happy again?"

"It just doesn't feel right," Jackie said, looking at her lumberjack friend with frustration. "Michael is too good looking, girls are always throwing themselves at him. And he's so stupid! He probably believes those skanks when they say I'll never find out. Well, you listen here, Donna. I will find out. I always find out. I'm Jackie Burkhart. You don't lie to me and get away with it."

"Jackie, you lie to everyone else, what do you expect?" Donna countered.

"That's beside the point, Donna." Jackie sneered. She stood from the table, pressing her hands to her stomach, trying to quiet the butterflies raging in her abdomen. Her abs ached from the morning's toilet hugging and her throat burned at the memory of vomiting a bottle and a half of wine into the porcelain bowl. Jackie smoothed her hair and slung her purse over her shoulder. "I need to find Michael before the skanks do."

Donna laughed, following Jackie across the black and white checked linoleum to The Hub's entrance.

"It's not funny, Donna!" Jackie admonished as they made their way across The Hub's parking lot. "If we don't hurry, Eric's slutty sister will have tied him to her bed and infected him with her slut rabies. I can't let that happen. Michael Kelso and I belong together. Haven't you looked at us?"

"I don't think you know what you're saying, Jackie," Donna said, easily keeping pace with her shorter friend.

Jackie huffed. "You don't anything about true love, Donna."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Donna asked, an edge of aggravation lacing her voice.

"Just what I said," Jackie replied. "Eric is too much of a girl to ever compare to Michael. He could never defend you in a fight, _you'd_ have to defend _him_."

Donna bit down hard on her lip. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Whatever you say, Princess."

"Hurry up, you Lumberjack!" Jackie admonished, racing down the street towards the Forman's middle class neighborhood.

Steven was right. Michael wouldn't cheat on her. But she had to be sure.

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 **Let me start with an apology, that this took so freaking long to post. It's not my favorite chapter and, thus, was difficult to write. It sat on my computer, open and glaring, for at least two weeks. We're getting closer and closer to our goal though! The Hyde loving will be coming soon, as we all know, Steven and Jackie are end game. As always, thank you for reading and if you have a minute, please drop in a review. Next chapter should be up soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Nine**

 _Wanna tell you about the girl I love_

 _My she looks so fine_

 _She's the only one that I've been dreamin of_

 _Maybe someday she will be all mine._

 _-Hey, Hey, What Can I Do,_ Led Zeppelin

8:47 pm, The Fotohut.

Steven whistled as he filed stacks of photos, the radio tuned in to WFPP. Leo had already left for the night, departing a last gift of four joints before he disappeared out into the cool night. _"This month's raise, man."_

Steven's head bobbed to the beat of _Stranglehold_ as he reached for a lit joint sitting in the ashtray to his right. He inhaled a lungful and turned away from the processing counter, taking a seat on the stool by the register. The night was cool, and he slid open the window a crack, letting the breeze wash over him comfortingly, dispelling a cloud of the sweet smoke that had accumulated in the small building.

It had been a slow night, usually his favorite kind of night, but slow night's meant that he had time to think, and, man, thinking was not something he felt like doing, not right now. Steven was beating himself up, berating himself for lying to Jackie. He had had the perfect opportunity to expose Kelso, it was sitting right there in the palm of his hands, begging to be flung out into the Big Wide World. It was his golden chance, the perfect chance. And he had fucking let it slide through his fingers like sand. He should've just opened his mouth, told her that no, she wasn't going crazy, that yeah, Kelso was cheating on her.

But as Jackie had fixed her big, round eyes on him, tears clinging to her bottom lashes and tracks of mascara running down her apple cheeks, those plump, kissable lips drawn into a deep pout, he found himself thinking of Kelso, and how his oldest friend would feel to be ratted out by him. And friendship, he decided, trumped any feelings he might have had for beguiling Jackie Burkhart.

Now, all Kelso had to do was blow it himself. It had to happen sooner or later. Kelso wasn't all that smart, nor was he all that great at sneaking around. How Jackie hadn't caught him yet, Steven couldn't figure out. None of the gang could. She had to be living in a delusional world, the one other than the one filled with rainbows and unicorns.

Crossing his fingers, Steven hoped Kelso would fuck it up sooner rather than later. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep his mouth shut on the subject.

Steven clipped the dwindling joint in his roach clip and took the last couple of puffs, stamping it out in Leo's glass ashtray. Cars pulled in and out of the parking lot, leaving the supermarket, and Steven watched the headlights come and go, his mind working through different scenarios of comforting a heartbroken Jackie, freshly broken up with Kelso.

Man, when had he turned into such a girl? This stash must be from California, Steven decided with a scowl.

Steven rubbed at his eyes and stood from his stool, closing the window and locking it against intruders with a shortened two by four, propping the warped piece of wood between the wall and sliding window. The clock above the door read ten after nine as Steven prepared to leave for the night. He stowed the cash box in the small safe under the counter, wiped his palms down the thighs of his jeans and slipped his sunglasses into the pocket of his jacket. Flipping the light switch, Steven stepped out into the night, shrugging into his corduroy jacket.

Striking the flint on his zippo, Steven lit a cigarette and made his way across the emptying parking lot towards the general direction of the Forman's neighborhood. He let his feet lead his path, his mind still obsessing over Jackie. He should have just told her, dammit. But Kelso was his best friend, man, and stealing your best friend's girl went against all the rules of friendship. Once Kelso and Jackie had broken up, if they ever broke up, man, then she was free game.

Right?

The breeze spun fallen leaves about his feet and Steven snapped out of his trance long enough to realize they had led him to where his brain had been so transfixed since this morning. Mansions were spread out on either side of the street, set on sprawling lawns with huge oak trees planted evenly spaced by the sidewalk. The Burkhart's was just around the bend in the road and Steven felt his pace quicken, his eyes staring up as the Tudor style building came into view.

What the fuck was he doing? What if Jackie saw him, or Kelso, or anyone for that matter? His feet came to a stop on the sidewalk, one hand propped on his hip, the other up around his mouth, rubbing at the corners of his lips obsessively. There was no reason for Steven to be in this area, except maybe for a B and E. There it was, a good enough reason to give anyone who questioned his presence. He was scoping out a new house to break into. Yeah, that's it. Steven continued up the sidewalk, stopping before the ornate gate.

The Burkhart house was dark, the gate sealed against intruders, and Steven wrapped his chilly fingers around the bars of the gate, staring up at the second story windows. Perhaps no one was home… It had been a while since Steven had broken into Jackie's house; his body tingled at the thought of slipping into her private life, snooping through her things. Maybe this time, he would take something other than her stupid necklace. Jack Burkhart had a decent selection of cognac in his study, if Steven remembered correctly.

He had placed the golden locket in a cigar box he used to hold his paraphernalia. Whenever he went to roll a joint, the glinting golden metal teased him, hinting at the warmth it had once held from Jackie's skin. At private circles, he would run the golden chain through his fingers, cursing his sentimentality. He should've gotten rid of the stupid thing. It was incriminating. Hadn't his Uncle Chet taught him anything? Never keep anything that could place you at the scene of the crime.

Shaking his shoulders, Hyde released the gate and stepped back to the curb, leaning against one of the oak trees. The weed had clouded his brain, dulling his senses. He lit another cigarette and stared up at the house, contemplating his next move.

A light brightened a set of curtains from a corner bedroom, and Steven's eyes fixated on it. Who's room was that? He went over his skewered mental picture of the Burkhart's, attempting to sift through the smoke clouding his memory. Was that Pam and Jack's room? Maybe it was Jackie's…

Checking his watch, 9:36, Steven pushed himself off the tree, and started to walk down the sidewalk, puffing on his cigarette. The Burkhart house called to him to turn back around, but he resisted, cutting through The Peterson's backyard over to Magnolia. The houses grew smaller, the lawns decreasing in size and splendor. The Henderson's dog nipped at his ankles as he sprinted through their backyard, nearly tripping over a big wheel, and hopped the fence into the back alley that led to the back of the Forman's property with a smile. The small terrier ran the fence line, wearing a deeper track against the fence, tearing up the green grass. It's sharp yaps followed him down the alley and Steven glanced back at it over his shoulder, watching as the Henderson's porch light turned on and Mr. Henderson emerged in his underwear, hollering at the small dog to shut up.

The garage door was locked and Steven groped in his pocket for his keys, slipping the small gold key into the lock and stepping into the darkened garage. The scent of gasoline and turpentine filled his nostrils and Steven patted the cold hood of the Toyota as he passed, slipping out the side door into the yard. Mr. and Mrs. Forman were already dressed for bed, sitting at the kitchen table as Steven passed, heading for the exterior entrance to the basement. He skipped down the basement steps, slipping the butt of his cigarette into the gap between the cement blocks on the retaining wall.

"All I'm saying is," Eric drew hard on a joint, his eyes glancing up at Steven as the door opened. He dropped his hand to his side in an attempt to hide the burning joint, and then brought it out again as Steven stepped into the room. "Samantha would totally beat Jeannie in a mud wrestling contest," Eric finished, passing the joint to Fez.

Kelso wrapped his arms tighter around Laurie, sprawled in his lap and jerked at the sound of Steven entering the basement. He was smiling around the room, his brown eyes bloodshot. "Ah, man, Hyde, I thought you were Jackie."

"He may smell pretty like a girl," Fez started, staring up at Hyde with red, glassy eyes, "But Hyde could never be Jackie, my goddess has impeccable fashion sense. Not all these vests and concert t-shirts."

"Man, Fez, shut up," Steven said, taking a seat in the lawn chair and reaching for the joint. "Pass it here."

"I don't need Jackie to be more upset with me, after the panty incident," Michael said, shifting his weight under Laurie. "I'm going to have to kiss serious ass to get her to forget that."

Laurie pulled away from Kelso. "What have I told you about talking about Jackie in my presence?"

Kelso looked up at Laurie as if he expected a trick. "To not do it?"

"Right," Laurie said slowly, drawing her pointer finger down his chest. "Now, why don't you come up to my room, and you can make it up to me?"

"Alright!"

The pair stampeded up the stairs, giggling and pausing to grope one another, Michael pressing Laurie up against the cinder block wall. They made out for a few seconds, before Laurie grasped the collar of his shirt, yanking him the rest of the way up the stairs. Steven watched them go, disgustedly. He kicked his feet up onto the empty couch.

"Man, they make me want to hurl."

Eric took the proffered joint from Hyde's fingers, and nodded his head in agreement. "I know. I wish Jackie would just find out Kelso was cheating already. Then neither Jackie nor Laurie would be down here anymore. Two birds with one stone."

Steven leaned back in the lawn chair, his lips pressed closed. Not having Jackie in the basement anymore would help this stupid little obsession he had with her. If he didn't have to see her everyday, he wouldn't think of her everyday. Steven's head fell back on his shoulders and he stared up at the ceiling. All this weed was doing him more harm than good. It was turning him into a girl, into Forman, worried about stupid shit and, he hated to even think it, emotional. He needed a private circle.

"If my goddess didn't come to the basement anymore, I don't know what I would do with myself," Fez whispered sadly, pulling a packet of M&M's from his pocket. He popped a few of the chocolate candies into his mouth, his dour expression quickly exchanged with a grin.

"Probably what you always do with yourself," Steven sneered, standing from his chair. "I'm going to bed, I'll see you guys in the morning."

Eric and Fez mumbled their goodnights, passing the joint between one another, picking up their conversation from before: Samantha vs. Jeannie.

Steven stepped into his room and closed the door tightly against his two friends, pressing the lock on the knob. He rolled an old beach towel and stuffed it at the bottom of the doorjamb. Steven stripped his shirt and jeans from his body, laying them on the musty armchair in the corner and sat on the edge of his cot, reaching blindly under the bed for the cigar box.

Zip Zag packets of rolling papers; a couple dime bags of weed and a pair of rolled joints covered the gold necklace and Steven pulled it out of the cigar box with trepidation, scowling down at the locket as if it would hiss his indiscretions into the air. The engraved initials were becoming smoothed from his thumb sliding over it repeatedly so often over the years, and he did that now, feeling the cool metal warm under his touch. Feeling for the catch, Steven slipped his thumb nail between the two hinges and popped it open, looking down at the pictures eight year old Jackie had deemed worthy of the two halves. A picture of her father, and another of a woman Steven didn't remember having seen before. The woman didn't appear to be related to Jackie. Or any of the Burkhart's, actually. Matter of fact, she looked Hispanic, Steven thought staring down at the faded picture.

Why the fuck would Jackie have a picture of a Mexican woman in a locket? Jackie hated foreigners.

Steven snapped the halves closed and dropped the locket back into the cigar box. Who knew why Jackie did half the shit she did, it wasn't up to Steven to figure her out.

Steven slid the cigar box back under the bed and stood from his cot, swiping his pants off the armchair and digging for one of the joints Leo had left for him. He placed the rolled paper between his lips and stepped across the room to his radio, pilfered from his mother's house, and flipped through a stack of vinyl, also stolen over the years. Immigrant Song caught his eye, and he pulled the 45 out, flipping it over to the B Side. He set the needle on the record and slithered back onto his bed, lighting the joint and inhaling deep.

Soon the room was filled with the sweet smoke, and Led Zeppelin occupied the silence. A chill had settled over Steven's bare flesh and he toed the afghan at the end of his cot, slipping his feet beneath the blanket. He smoked his joint quick, his eyelids growing heavy after each exhale, and his body feeling as though it were weighted to the thin mattress by cement on to his cot. Finally, some of the stress of the day was dissipating; his brain was emptying, freeing itself.

Outside his door, the basement was quiet and he dropped the roach of his joint into a little ashtray on the dresser by his bed. Steven's fingers scratched at his stomach, coming to rest on his belly with his elbows at right angles from his body.

Sleep swept over Steven then, and he dreamt he was on a desolate highway, the landscape first barren with scattered tufts of cactus, and then lush with pine and evergreen trees. Steven walked for what felt like hours stuffed into minutes; flashing by him in a kaleidoscope of color, sound flowing into his ears as if through thick cotton. He came to an intersection and looked up at the cerulean sky where an eagle, ginormous against the bright sun, circled him, each of its white-tipped feathers shimmering in Steven's eyes like diamonds. The eagle opened its mouth and fixed its beady eyes on Steven, so far below him. Immigrant Song poured from the eagle's throat and Steven looked away to see Robert Plant and Ian Anderson emerging from the trees before him, their long, frizzed curls swaying in the breeze.

And Robert opened his mouth and howled and Ian pulled out his flute and danced around him. The air crackled with electricity and lightening struck the ground, igniting small patches of fire, and the scene shifted, the earth tilting abruptly so Steven fell, grappling at the pebbled earth for purchase. Steven slid down the earth, shooting past Robert and Ian, and was deposited into a crevice between towering rocks, dust rising up around him and he coughed as his lungs clenched in his chest, a sharp fear overtaking his senses momentarily. The tall pines and evergreens shrank into the earth and Robert howled and Ian played his flute as women, clad in only their flesh, rose from the smoke of the small fires, their bodies undulating, and their shadows tall on the faces of rock surrounding the group. Grotesque faces in the shadows bared their teeth, following the path of the dancing women. Steven's body felt light and his eyes wide, and he stood and danced around the flames with them, clasping hands with first one, then two of the women, pressing against their nakedness and accepting their mouths.

Thunder echoed in his bones and he found he was naked, and Robert sang, and the flute in Ian's hands was the blood in his veins and Steven opened his eyes to see that all the women had converged into one lone woman, dancing around the fire. Steven panted, unashamed of his nakedness. His eyes were glued to her as she gyrated before him and Steven came to his knees, staring up as the woman came around the fire. She twisted her arms over her head, her fingers spread wide and her hips swayed to the music made by the two lead singers and from her palms sprouted bouquets of birds of paradise.

Steven sat before the fire, transfixed. The woman spun around and around the fire and Steven stared. Her hair was tipped with licks of gold and it left streaks of color on her body as she danced. She knelt at his side, and the tips of the flowers poked into his skin as she placed her hands on his cheeks. And when her mouth connected with his, the sky dropped to the earth and Robert and Ian's voices cut short. Her lips was hot on his, her breath sweet in his mouth, and Steven pushed away, to find Jackie knelt beside him, her soft hands on his cheeks and her hair long and loose over her bare chest, her nipples hard from the chill that had filled the air.

Jerking awake, Steven panted, his eyes sweeping his dark room. The TV was blaring out in the basement and Steven adjusted his stiffening cock in his boxers with a groan.

"Dammit," Steven muttered, rubbing his palms so hard over his eyes, white spots erupted on his closed eyelids. He pulled the afghan from the bottom of his cot and snapped it open. He flopped over onto his stomach, shoving his arms under his pillow, determined to fall back to, what he hoped, was a dreamless sleep.

-x-

Steven dealt out a hand to Eric and Fez, leaning forward in his chair. Fez was barely paying attention to his cards, his focus set on Fantasy Island playing on the black and white television before them. Kelso sprawled farther into the lawn chair, his knees an impossible distance from themselves and the edge of his butt hanging precariously close to the edge of the chair. Every once in a while, he glanced up the stairs and then behind him to the basement door, his hands white-knuckling the lawn chairs metal arm rests.

Kelso leaned forward suddenly, upsetting the balance of the lawn chair and tumbled to the basement floor. He popped up, peering over the spool table around at his friends from the floor. Steven looked up at Kelso, then back down to his cards. He felt anxious for some reason, his Zen wavering, but Steven cleared his throat loudly and refocused on his hand of cards.

"I need your help," Kelso exclaimed, his brown eyes wide. His voice cracked and he glanced over his shoulder at the exterior door. Michael looked to each of the boys sitting around him and scooted on his butt closer to the spool table, licking his lips. "I need to know how to get rid of my second girlfriend."

"I thought you were enjoying having two girls want to nail you all the time?" Eric said, rearranging his hand of cards.

"Well, yeah," Kelso agreed, pulling the lawn chair closer to him and sitting upon it. "But, I mean, look at me now, I have two dates, both at eight o'clock, and I don't know how to tell Laurie I won't be there. She's going to screw up what I have going with Jackie, and let me tell you; it's finally something good." Michael looked down to his lap, lacing his fingers together. "I wish I had two bodies. Then I could be with Laurie and Jackie, satisfying them both at the same time. Man, can't you see it now?"

Steven peered over his hand of cards at Kelso. "What do you mean, "it's finally something good'?" He snapped his hand of cards against his palm and leaned back in his chair. "Man, Jackie buys you whatever the hell you want, barely comments on how stupid you are anymore, _and_ sleeps with you. What more could you ask for?"

"I know that, _Hyde_ ," Michael started, staring hard at Steven. "But, she's just so bossy and always suspicious of me. She's accused me of cheating on her, like, a million times."

Eric, Fez and Steven all traded looks.

"Gee, Kelso, I wonder why that would be," Eric said sarcastically, resting back on the couch cushions.

Michael leaned back in the lawn chair, contemplative. "It's just, Laurie does all the dirty things with me that Jackie won't. Like, for instance, Jackie won't give me blowjobs. She did it once, and I totally blew it in her mouth, even though I promised I wouldn't, and she freaked, and now she won't do it anymore. But Laurie, man, Laurie gives them away like candy."

"Oh, candy," Fez interjected, a dreamy look on his face. He held his hand of cards loosely in his fingers. "I wish a girl would give me blowjobs. And candy. Oh! A girl named Candy could give me blowjobs! Ai, that is the life."

"Ok, first of all," Eric held up a finger, his eyes closed and his face drawn into a look of utter pain and disgust. "I don't want to know what it is you and my slutty sister do together. Or what you and Jackie do together, for that matter."

"Yeah, man," Steven agreed, fanning his cards between his fingers. A white heat had settled in his chest, tension over his shoulders and he shifted his body in an attempt to quell it. His heart was pounding in his chest and he bent the cards clenched in his hands so when he set them face down on the table, they stood like tents of their own accord. "And besides, aren't you worried that you'll, I don't know, give Jackie VD, or something?"

"Oh, nothing itches on Pink Floyd," Michael stated, twirling a lock of his feathered hair around his middle finger, completely unbothered.

Eric looked to Steven and shook his head sadly. Eric lay down two cards and Steven dealt him two new ones.

"So, what are you going to do, man?" Steven asked, trying to push away the feeling of jealous rage that had settled over him. "You going to dump Laurie? Jackie?"

Michael sighed dramatically. "I guess I have to. Dump Laurie that is." Steven felt his body deflate slightly. Michael dropped the lock of hair from his fingers and sighed once more. "I mean, I love Jackie. She's always buying me stuff and taking me to nice places. Plus, she's limber as hell."

Steven pushed away a mental image of Jackie flat on her back with her ankles around her ears.

"I just don't know how to do it. Do I just tell Laurie, 'Hey, we're done'?" Kelso stood from the lawn chair and began to pace behind the couch. "Eric, she's your sister. Help me."

"Just tell her you don't want to put it in her demon hole anymore, Kelso," Steven bit out.

Fez peered over the back of the couch at Michael. "Yes, and then send her to me, so I can comfort her, and her demon hole."

"Man, Fez," Eric said, frogging Fez on the deltoid. "That's disgusting."

"Ai!" Fez rubbed at his arm, a pout on his lips. "I was only saying."

"I need something to drink," Kelso announced, heading up the basement stairs to the kitchen. He paused halfway up and turned back to the room. "I guess when the time comes, I'll just have to tell Laurie how it is. That I love Jackie, and only Jackie."

"Sure, Kelso," Eric called up to him tiredly, without turning to his friend. He lay down his hand and whooped when he won the draw. Fez scowled and tossed his hand of cards back towards Steven, who shuffled for the next hand.

Kelso disappeared up the staircase and Eric and Steven continued their game of cards. Fez sat, his hands absentmindedly rubbing at his belly and his eyes focused solely on the TV, picking at a bag of cheese puffs.

Eric glanced up at the television and rolled his head on his shoulders. "I don't know what I'd do if Donna ever cheated on me."

"Forman, don't get all sentimental," Steven grumbled. He dealt a new hand to himself and Eric, and settled into his chair.

"I'm just saying, is all," Eric continued, his eyes flicking down at his cards. "She could do a lot better than me."

"And yet, she finds her skinny neighbor boy the object of her desire," Steven countered. He huffed in exasperation and looked at his oldest friend. "Donna wouldn't cheat on you, man."

It was like freaking déjà vu. Hadn't he been telling Jackie just the exact same thing yesterday morning? He'd promised her that Kelso, her One True Love, would never cheat on her, and yet, he knew that was a blatant lie. But Donna and Eric… They were different. They were meant to be together. Jackie and Kelso weren't. Anyone could see that.

Jackie and Kelso were destined to detonate. They were always on again, off again. They were the couple that had whispers follow them down the hall at school. They were too attractive, too shallow. They had no original thoughts, and yet, everyone hung onto their words like they were prophecies. Jackie was always asking for more, expecting more, and Kelso was destined to give less and less. It was just who he was. It was what his brothers had done, it was what his father had done, and here was Kelso, falling right into their footsteps.

But Donna and Eric… They were something different. They didn't always agree, though, Forman was more likely to agree to end the argument. They didn't go together, per se. Donna was attractive, a tall woman with a body that was both feminine and, yet foretold it wouldn't be trifled with. A real life Amazon. And Eric... Eric was skinny, and while equipped with a sharp wit, was a nerd, plain and simple. And yet… Donna and Eric fit. Like two puzzle pieces that had been cut to fit only one another.

"You really think so?" Eric asked, unsure of himself. His green eyes gave away his insecurity. He looked to Steven and Hyde held his gaze, understanding the need for Eric to hear sincere affirmation.

Steven didn't blink. He looked into Eric's green eyes and nodded his head slightly. "Yeah, man, Donna is yours. She could only ever be yours."

Eric nodded and broke eye contact. The basement fell into a comfortable silence. Fez settled into the cushions, almost drowsy with sleep and Eric stopped with their game of poker, instead opting for a slow game of War. Steven half-heartedly swiped at a Jack, glancing at the TV as he threw down another card. Time passed slowly and it was a while before Steven realized that Kelso had been gone for nearly a half hour.

The exterior door burst open and a gust of cold air settled over the occupants of the basement as Jackie entered the scene. She was breathing hard, her hand clenched to the doorknob and her eyes were lit with fire as she stared each inhabitant down.

"Eric, I just saw Michael kissing your sister! He's a rat! He's been cheating on me!" Jackie's voiced was laced with emotion and her eyes were wet with unshed tears.

Eric looked to Fez. "What? Well, surely, there must be some kind of mistake!" He slapped Steven's arm, jolting him from his shock. "Right, guys, come on."

"Well, it certainly is a mind blower!" Steven exclaimed mordantly, unable to keep his mouth closed.

Jackie brought her hands to her chest. She looked to Steven expectantly. "So that's it, Michael and I are over."

Fez jumped form the couch, his face expectant. "Really? And, by 'over' you mean…"

"I mean over and done. Forever!"

"Uh, huh, and by 'forever', you mean?"

"God!" Jackie exclaimed, stamping her foot. "And after everything I put up with: him taking Pam Macy to the prom, setting my house on fire, lying about Laurie, God!"

Steven piped up, unable to help himself. "To be fair, that's only the stuff you know about."

Jackie glared at Steven, her mismatched eyes displaying a range of emotions; hurt, anger, betrayal, before turning on her heel and exiting the basement, slamming the door behind her. Fez turned to Eric and Steven, a bright smile on his face. "Well. Today is the day I make Jackie mine!"

-x-

Steven slammed the door on the Cruiser and followed Eric up the driveway to the house. They had left Fez at the hospital to be treated for appendicitis, under Mrs. Forman's strict instructions to get something to eat and then get to bed, as it was a school night. The joint they had smoked on the way home was working opposite of how Steven had intended and he looked back over his shoulder at Kelso, on his own and unusually quiet leaning against the back of the Cruiser.

Eric entered the house, sliding the door closed behind him, and Steven turned back down the driveway towards Kelso. Steven shuffled his feet and came to lean against the warm tailgate by Kelso, both of them quiet as a car made it's way down Marie Street, heading past them to Magnolia. Steven pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and flicked his zippo, surprised when Michael proffered his hand, silently asking for a cigarette.

Michael took the zippo from Steven and lit the cigarette, barely inhaling, than taking a deep drag on the butt of the cigarette, coughing up a lungful of grey smoke. He wiped at his eyes, pushing away tears. "She was supposed to be at a cheer meeting. She wasn't supposed to see that. I was breaking up with Laurie, man, I swear. It was a goodbye kiss. That's all."

Steven crossed his ankles, puffing on his own cigarette. He stared across the street at the Jones's pristine yard.

"I feel like this is all a dream," Michael continued, flicking ash at their feet. "This can't be real. Jackie just ran away, she wouldn't even let me explain." His brown eyes trained on Hyde at his side. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

 _No._ Steven thought vehemently, resisting the urge to snort in derision. Instead he sighed, expelling a cloud of smoke into the cool night air. "I don't know." Then more quietly, "Maybe."

Michael shook his head sadly. "She said if I ever cheated on her again, then that would be it, Hyde, she said she'd never forgive me."

Steven felt an eyebrow rise high on his forehead. He stepped away from the Cruiser and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the street. Michael followed and did the same, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. Steven felt torn. He wanted to encourage his friend to go win back the woman he claimed to love. He also was feeling a desperate urge to run away from the situation. After years of secretly wishing he could have Jackie, she was free for the taking. Well, free to see other people, at least. But did he really want to date Jackie? She was complicated, and she was vain and shallow. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was also immature and couldn't hold a decent conversation if it didn't revolve around herself or Donny Osmond. And yet…

"Look, Kelso, you gotta decide for yourself, man," Steven said, clapping a hand on Kelso's shoulder. "Do you really want to be with Jackie? And if you do, you have to decide what it is exactly that that means."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked. His shoulder was tense under Steven's grasp and his eyes glimmered with unshed tears in the semi-darkness.

"I mean," Steven looked down to the stained cement of the driveway. "If you want Jackie, you're going to have to be better to her, man. You can't keep yanking her around. And stop cheating on her, that would be a guarantee she'd stay with you."

"Stop cheating on her?" Michael asked as if it were something sour on his tongue. He looked down at himself and Steven pulled his hand back, swiping his palm back and forth against the thigh of his jeans. "Have you seen me, I can't keep the girls off of me!"

Steven grimaced. "Right, well, then good luck with Jackie, man."

"Wait, wait, wait," Michael called as Steven made his way up the driveway towards the house. "If I can promise Jackie I won't cheat on her anymore, you think she'll take me back?"

Steven didn't break pace. He felt like he was seconds from decking Kelso in the face, his chest tight with emotion. His voice felt bitter in his mouth when he called back "I dunno, man!" and he used his last remaining vestiges of Zen to appear collected and calm.

Eric was at the counter, eating a sandwich, when Steven entered the kitchen, sliding the door closed behind him. He shrugged his shoulders at Eric, who watched him in silence as Steven headed down to the basement, seeking solace in his cold, empty bedroom.

-x-

Jackie had officially done it. She had lost her fucking mind.

She wanted to be with him, _him_ , Steven Hyde. She was under the impression that they would make a decent couple, no, not decent, an "amazing" couple, and Steven wasn't sure he was ready for the shit show. He had expected some time to grow used to the idea that Jackie was no longer with Kelso, that it would take her some time to get over her first boyfriend. That he had time to work his way up to being a boyfriend, or just a lover, or something, anything. But Jackie had dropped Kelso like he was something diseased (which Steven thought, he probably was), and latched onto Hyde like he were the only salvation in the world.

Sure, thinking of having Jackie was one thing, especially when she had been unavailable, a thing to gaze at and long for from afar, where it was safe. But now… Now she was buying him things, and following him all over the fucking place, waiting for him outside of class, having already memorized his schedule, and Steven was about to lose his damn mind. She was waiting for him when he woke up in the basement, her mismatched eyes alight, genuinely happy to see him, not even minding when he grunted responses at her, and she was the last one to leave the basement at night, beaming at him expectantly, as if waiting for something. Steven had taken to shoving her out the door and locking it against her, running to the relative safety of his bedroom. His body hummed with the idea of her, of asking her to stay, of kissing her goodnight. He wasn't a fool, he knew what she was waiting for.

But she was only using him to fill the void that was once occupied by Kelso, of that Steven was positive.

Little gifts started to appear in the basement and in his locker at school. Small things. Cologne, a comb, a new shirt with pearl snap buttons. Steven had them all collected in a cardboard box in his room, where he would sit on the edge of his cot and stare at them as if afraid they would explode. Steven added the latest gift, a leather belt with an enameled buckle of the Chevy bowtie, into the box and stepped back. His room was beginning to feel claustrophobic. There was too much of Jackie here, too much of her in his bubble.

"Steven?" The basement door closed with a slam.

"Fuck." Steven whispered harshly as Jackie's voice reached him, his eyes gazing about his room for a place to hide. He fell to his stomach and slid under his bed, pushing the cigar box into the wall. But he was too visible. If she came back here looking for him, she would spot him right away. Steven slapped his open palms on the concrete.

Steven slithered out from under his bed and tip toed for his door, hoping he would be able to slip into the small bathroom just off the short hall. He gripped the doorknob in his sweating palm and willed his heart to stop jumping about in his chest.

"Steven?" Jackie called, her voice closer to his door. He sighed, his forehead thumping against the door. A quick succession of knocks reverberated through his skin and Jackie's voice was just on the other side of the wood, low in her throat. "Steven? Are you in there? Can I come in?"

Steven whipped the door open, startling Jackie for a moment. She quickly recovered, smiling broadly up at him. "Hi."

"Hey, Jackie," Steven said, slipping out of the room around her, pressing against the wall so as not to touch her. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Nope!" Jackie chimed back, following close behind him. "I thought I could spend the day with you."

"What?" Steven said, stopping before the dryer. "Why would you want to do that?"

Jackie came around him and pushed herself up onto the deep freeze. Her face was crestfallen when she asked, "What, you don't want to hang out?"

"But you and me, we don't hang out together, Jackie," Steven said, opening the dryer door and pulling out a pair of jeans. He snapped them out before him, shaking out the wrinkles. He heard the desperation in his voice. "Shouldn't you be with Donna or something?"

"I don't want to hang out with Donna," Jackie rebutted, picking at her cuticles. "Besides, she's with Eric."

Steven folded the jeans and slapped them down on the dryer, before reaching in for the next item. Jackie began to kick her feet, back and forth, the heels of her wedges clacking against the deep freeze and her mouth moving a mile a minute. She would pause at the appropriate times, goading him into a response, helping him along to the answer she most wanted to hear. Steven almost wished he hadn't smoked a joint this morning. He was moving slow, not thinking things through properly. When Jackie followed him into his room, he nearly lost his Zen, racing out of the small space and back into the basement with Jackie hot on his heels. It was his stomach, the THC in his system, and Jackie's promise of a free dinner that had enticed him into her daddy's Lincoln, scowling the whole way to Sizzler, and attempting to ignore Jackie as she weaved in and out of traffic, accelerating too quickly and slamming on the brakes at all traffic stops.

If they didn't die in a fiery accident there, Steven wasn't sure how exactly he would survive the rest of the night. Not with her sitting within arm's length and her scent of gardenia and bergamot heavy between them. Steven laid his head on the cool passenger window. Man, he was screwed.

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 **Thank you for the reviews! I love reading them, y'all are amazing! I have the next chapter outlined, and mostly finished. Read and Review and, most of all, enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Ten**

 _So don't misunderstand me,_

 _You put the light in my life,_

 _You put the sparks to the flame,_

 _I've got your heart in my sights._

 _-Don't Go Breaking My Heart,_ Elton John and Kiki Dee

-x-

"And so, I told Susan, that obviously Teresa would have to be kicked off the cheer squad, I mean, how embarrassing, right? I mean, Teresa totally gained like twenty pounds, there's no way she can be a flyer now," Jackie inhaled a deep breath and chanced  
a look to her right.

Steven sighed heavily, his focus solely fixated on the passing scenery.

He had been quiet the whole drive, grunting whenever Jackie posed a question in his direction, and glaring competitively when they got into a war for the radio station. Jackie had switched it to the only pop station Point Place had to offer, happily squealing  
when Elton John was playing. She bounced in the driver's seat, belting the lyrics, and nearly wrecking the car in the process. Steven had almost immediately leaned forward and turned the dial to WFPP, nodding his head in appreciation when Alice Cooper  
filled the car. Jackie had switched it back, and Steven had retaliated, this continuing on till Jackie nearly ran a red light and had to slam on the brakes to avoid being t-boned by passing traffic.

And now… Now he was in a deep staring contest with his own reflection peering back at him from the passenger side window, his chin cradled in the palm of his hand and elbow propped on the door. Jackie shifted in her seat, gripping the leather steering  
wheel cover. This was not what she had been expecting to happen. Everything was going wrong. Steven had quickly lost his excitement over a free dinner, and Jackie wasn't sure what to say or do to draw him back in.

Jackie cleared her throat loudly. She wasn't one to be ignored. Steven Hyde would have the best night of his poor, misguided life, even if it were the last thing she'd do.

"Well, _then_ ," Jackie started, coming to a quick stop at the stoplight, jolting Steven from his position leaning against the door. Jackie turned to look out the driver's side window, a small smile on her lips as he angrily readjusted his position.  
"Then, Susan went and blabbed to Kat Peterson about how Teresa needed to be kicked off the squad, _knowing full well_ that Kat is Teresa's best friend! I mean, duh, of course Kat told Teresa everything we had been saying behind Teresa's back  
and now, Teresa is, like, totally in crash diet mode. Like she could ever regain our respect as a flyer. No one wants to chance it that she won't all crush us if we toss her in the air at a pep rally."

Steven cleared his throat, scratching at his sideburns. He sighed heavily again, not looking at Jackie when he crossed his arms tightly over his chest and turned his attention out the windshield. Jackie pursed her lips and put on her turn signal, waiting  
for traffic to clear so she could turn into Sizzler's parking lot. She had hoped that she and Steven would be engrossed in conversation, about her of course, and Jackie would be able to get him to admit that he enjoyed spending time with her. After  
all, she was a catch, and now that she had decided she wanted him, there was no possible way he could deny her. Right?

Jackie turned into the packed Sizzler parking lot and began to coast down the lanes, looking for an open space close to the side entrance. She clucked her tongue and leaned forward in her seat, her eyes roaming the lot. Absentmindedly she reached for  
the radio, turning the volume down so she could concentrate better.

"I didn't realize Sizzler would be so packed," Jackie observed. A total lie, of course. It was Friday in Point Place. Everyone would be at Sizzler. Everyone would see her with Steven Hyde, making it easier for word to get back to Michael that she was  
completely over him. This was just as Jackie had planned it. She felt positively giddy.

Steven shot Jackie a look that said he knew she was lying. His blue eyes glanced around the lot and he pointed to a space farther out in the parking lot. "There."

"Ugh, but that's so far," Jackie complained, turning again for the first row, hoping someone would be reversing out of a closer spot. She idled at a snail's pace, stalking an old couple as they neared a pristine Cadillac.

"What, you can't walk now?" Steven asked acidly.

"Of course I can walk, _Steven_ , I just don't want to scuff my boots," Jackie explained, coming to the end of the aisle. The old couple was standing at the trunk of their car, the woman digging through her purse and her husband scowling at her as  
he clenched a bag of left overs in his hand. "They're brand new."

Steven leaned forward to look at her boots. He scoffed and sat back in his seat. "Fine."

Jackie beamed. She turned down the second aisle and then came back up the first. They made a circle ten times. The old couple had yet to get into their car. The woman had dumped the contents of her purse onto the Cadillac's trunk, and as they passed,  
Jackie heard the husband complaining that she would scratch the paint. Steven began to scowl, deeper and deeper, till he was downright glowering out the windshield. Jackie came to a stop at the end of the second aisle, preparing to turn again to make  
her way up the first when Steven exploded. He leaned forward in his seat and slapped his palms on the dash.

"Dammit, Jackie! Just park farther away!" Steven yelled, his hands rose in exasperation. "I'm freaking hungry!"

"Ok, geez, no need to shout!" Jackie yelled back, cranking the wheel the opposite way and turning out into the back of the parking lot. She idled past several cars and open spaces. Steven turned to her, his lips in a hard line, and his eyes alight with  
frustration. Jackie passed another open space, looking at the shabby Buick parked too close to the line and accelerated to the next empty space.

"What are you doing?" Steven breathed, his voice low in his throat.

Jackie gestured to the cars around them. "I can't just park _anywhere_ , the Lincoln will get all scratched up!"

"Park the damn car, Jackie!"

"I will!"

"I swear to God, I will jump out of this vehicle, and walk the hell home!"

"No you won't, you promised to hang out with me!"

"I did not!" Steven countered, his right hand gripping the door handle. "You promised food! I didn't realize that meant we would have to spend a freaking hour parking the damn car!"

"Fine!" Jackie cut into a parking space, pulling close over the curb so that the metal bumper squealed over the concrete. She turned to glare at Steven. "See what you made me do? Now this car looks just as crappy as Eric's!"

"I didn't make you a shitty driver, Jackie," Steven spat, opening the door. He stepped out into the cool night air and slammed the door closed. He shook out his hands and kicked at the pavement. Jackie could hear him muttering angrily as he walked the  
length of the car.

Jackie flipped down the visor, opening the small mirror on the rear side of it. She stared at her lit expression for a moment, before drawing her purse to her side, and extracting a tube of lip-gloss. She watched Steven come to a stop at the trunk of  
the car, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. He bent at the waist to look at her through the back window. Jackie huffed and applied a layer of lip-gloss to her lips, massaging her lips together after application. She pinched at her cheeks and sighed  
happily at the rosy glow that surfaced on her skin. The car shook as Steven angrily leaned back against the trunk. Jackie rummaged through her bag, searching for her comb. She hummed under her breath and unearthed the comb, hidden beneath her bottle  
of perfume, running it through her locks several times.

A series of sharp knocks on the window startled Jackie, and she yelped, dropping the comb into her lap. Steven was standing at the driver's side watching her with a sneer. He yanked the door open and stood before her, his fingers drumming on the Lincoln's  
roof. "You gonna get out of the damn car, or spend the next hour slathering more of that crap on your face?"

"Beauty is worth waiting for, Steven," Jackie reprimanded, turning the car off and sliding out of the driver's seat.

Steven slammed the door closed behind her and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Jackie. Come on, I'm starving."

They walked awkwardly side by side, Jackie leaving her hand swinging at her side, hoping Steven would take the hint and wrap it in his own. She inched her way closer to him so that her hand brushed against his side every now and then. He stubbornly kept  
his hands in his jacket pockets, his eyes roaming over the parking lot, everywhere but at her.

Jackie began to grow nervous the closer they came to the building. She had never spent this amount of time alone with Steven before. What if Michael didn't care that she was here with his best friend? What if Steven really didn't like her? Jackie pushed  
that thought out of her head, nearly snorting out loud. Of course Steven liked her. She was Jackie Burkhart; everyone liked her. Music pulsated from the door as a couple made their exit and Jackie stepped back to allow Steven to open the door for  
her. He did so without hesitation, his hand touching the small of her back. Jackie flounced through the entrance, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder, relishing in the heat of his touch on her body.

The Sizzler was packed as Jackie and Steven walked up to the hostess stand. Jackie's eyes swept the restaurant, glancing back at Steven where he followed a few paces behind her. He looked uncomfortable, but was quiet still.

"Hi, welcome to Sizzler, where the Jell-O wiggles and the steaks sizzle," the hostess wearily spouted. She looked up from her seating chart. Once she caught sight of Steven behind Jackie, her lips bloomed in a smile and she straightened her shoulders,  
pushing her breasts forward. Jackie scowled and rapped her fingers on the wooden podium.

"Table for two," Jackie demanded, side stepping so she was in front of Steven. The hostess glanced at Jackie and gathered a set of menus in her hands.

"Right this way," The hostess said, swaying her hips as she walked off into the restaurant.

Jackie turned to look at Steven, noting happily that he hadn't yet seemed to notice the hostess. He was staring at the bar, where a row of small televisions were playing the football game.

Jackie looped her arm through Steven's, startling him to look down at her. She smiled up at him, and pulled him to follow after the hostess. "Come on, Steven."

Steven was stiff beside her as they walked between tables following the buxom hostess through the restaurant. He tried to unhook his arm from Jackie's subtly, but was only successful when the hostess had brought them to a small booth next to the salad  
bar. Jackie slid into her seat and glared at the hostess as she laid their menus before them, her attention solely on Hyde. The hostess smiled intriguingly at Steven, a blush creeping over her cheeks when he smirked back at her, pulling his menu closer.

"Your server will be right over." The hostess purred, leaning against the table.

"Yes, thank you, good-bye," Jackie growled. The hostess glared at Jackie before slinking back towards the hostess podium, her hips swaying dramatically. Steven watched her go, a smirk still on his lips.

Jackie licked her lips and opened her menu, disappearing behind it's tall pages. She slunk down in the booth, unable to keep the pout from growing on her mouth.

Their server came by, another woman, and Jackie ordered water in terse agitation. Her eyes roamed the menu unseeing and minutes passed in complete silence. Their drinks were delivered and the server spouted off the specials, mostly speaking to Steven  
as Jackie was hiding behind her cardboard prison, unable to shake the jealously that coursed through her at each giggle from the server, each of Steven's responses, laced with honeyed tones and filled with an attraction he never showed to Jackie herself.

"And for you?" The server said, pen poised over her pad of paper. She turned to Jackie, cocking her hip. "Are you ready to order?"

"The soup and salad," Jackie said, straightening up in the booth. Steven was staring down at the wooden table, his fingers laced together. He looked up when Jackie reappeared from behind her shield, his eyes narrowed. The low hanging lamp over the booth  
drew deep shadows over his cheeks.

"Of course," the waitress replied, gathering up their menus. "I'll have it right out."

Steven smirked up at the waitress as she left, turning to look over his shoulder, watching her go.

"Do you have to do that?" Jackie hissed, leaning over the table. Steven whipped back around and reached for his drink.

"Do what?" Steven sipped at his soda, confusion on his features.

"Stare at her like she's being served for dinner!" Jackie replied, drawing attention from the table next to them.

Steven's eyebrows rose on his forehead and he nodded in appreciation. "That'd be nice!"

"You are disgusting," Jackie spat, sitting back in her seat. She glared out at the restaurant.

"I'm a guy, Jackie, what do you expect?"

Jackie sighed and slapped an open palm on the vinyl booth. "How about that you don't flirt with other girls when you're out with me?"

"Jackie," Steven leaned forward in his seat. His eyes flicked between each of hers and Jackie felt her chest rising and falling in an angry pant. "You do realize that we aren't together, right?"

"We're together right now." Jackie answered, her voice high.

"You know what I mean, Jackie," Steven countered. His face evolved into a look of trepidation and he scratched at his neck, obviously feeling awkward. His voice lowered and he whispered across to her, "You and me, we're not a couple."

Jackie felt tears well in her eyes, and she chewed on her lips. First Michael cheats on her with that slut Laurie. And now Steven throws this in her face. What was wrong with her? Was she somehow deficient? She had the hair, the skin, and the slim body  
that sent most men crazy. It had made Michael crazy with want, and even garnered her attention from practically every boy in school, but not Steven. He was impervious to her charms. Jackie breathed deeply, trying to steady her voice.

"Gee, thanks, Hyde," Jackie licked her lips, inwardly cringing when her voice cracked with emotion. Tears threatened to spill over her lashes and she looked up at the ceiling, willing them to go away. "All I wanted was to not be alone for one night, to  
feel like I have someone who cares about me, and all you want to do is throw in my face how much you despise me."

"Jackie, cut it out, you know that's not what I meant," Steven said back, ignoring the looks they attracted from other restaurant patrons. His eyes were searching her face, a deep furrow between his eyebrows.

Their waitress returned, setting a bowl of soup on the table before Jackie, before slipping away again. Steven watched her leave, his eyes scanning the restaurant when the waitress slipped back into the galley. He cleared his throat loudly and rubbed  
at the corners of his mouth.

"Then what did you mean, Hyde?" Jackie asked, leaving the soup untouched.

Steven huffed in exasperation. He looked down to the table and then back up at Jackie. His mouth opened to speak and snapped it closed again. He looked increasingly uncomfortable as time passed and he chewed his lips.

"Steven?" Jackie prompted.

"Look, you know we're friends, cut it out," Steven said before sliding out of the booth. Jackie watched him stalk to the restrooms, her spirits lifting.

If Steven thought they were friends, they had the potential to be so much more, Jackie thought, sliding out of the booth. She skipped to the salad bar, piling her plate high with veggies. Her plan was working after all. Steven was growing to like her  
Jackie could feel it. He had never before admitted to being her friend, but now, now the admission was enough to put a stupid grin on Jackie's face. They would spend the evening together, fall in love, and Jackie would show Michael just how happy  
she could be without him.

Steven was back in their booth when Jackie returned, inhaling his cheeseburger. He watched her as she sat, suspicious of the smile on her face. "What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, nothing," Jackie said in a singsong voice, unrolling her silverware from her napkin. "Nothing at all."

-x-

Jackie laid down fifteen dollars atop the check and slid out of her booth. Steven was waiting for her, his thumbs hooked in his pockets as Jackie slipped on her jacket and grabbed her purse. He scowled at her as she smoothed her jeans. "You ready?"

"Yep!" Jackie confirmed, smiling up at him. Steven turned away, his face blank, and made his way through the restaurant towards the exit.

"Come back soon!" The hostess trilled, her teeth glinting in the overhead lights of the lobby.

Steven raised his chin at her in response and exited first, holding the door for Jackie behind him. Jackie kept close to him as they made their way across the parking lot, interminably brushing her arm against his, growing emboldened when he didn't immediately  
pull away. The Lincoln was just as they had left it when they approached it and Jackie jingled the keys in her hands.

"Here," Steven said, reaching for the keys. "I'll pull the car out. If you do, you'll probably tear the bumper off."

"Awe, you're so thoughtful, Steven," Jackie said, pressing the keys into his palm, spreading her fingers over his skin.

Steven pulled away quickly. "Whatever." He slid the key into the door lock and started the Lincoln as Jackie stepped back away from the trunk of the car.

The front bumper groaned when Steven reversed, slowly, away from the curb, but it was neither torn from the vehicle, nor suffered any more damage. Steven stopped before he had completely reversed from the space and popped open the door, sliding over into  
the passenger's seat as Jackie slid into the driver's.

"So, back home?" Steven asked hopefully, clapping his hands together.

"Steven, it's still so early!" Jackie admonished, pulling her seat belt across her body. "Besides, there are these adorable clogs I've been eyeing at the mall!"

"No, no, no, no, no," Steven turned in his seat towards her. "You never said anything about shopping. We had dinner, now take me home."

"No," Jackie said, reversing out of her spot and zooming out of the parking lot towards Point Place Mall. "It won't take that long. And if you're good, maybe I'll even buy you something!"

"I feel like a gigolo," Steven muttered, turning up the radio.

Jackie frowned. "A what?"

"Never mind," Steven said.

"Anyway," Jackie shook her ponytail over her shoulder and accelerated down Franklin towards the mall. "These clogs are so cute, I saw practically the exact pair in Vogue, and I still haven't found the right pair to replace the ones that got stolen at  
the reservoir."

Steven made a weird face at mention of the reservoir; he glanced at Jackie fleetingly, then back out the windshield as he rubbed his palms down his thighs. Jackie continued on, pulling into the mall's parking lot and beginning the search for a space close  
to the entrance all over again. She idled up and down the lanes for ten minutes, talking over Steven's annoyed grunts as she made circles. Jackie ignored him, describing the clogs in detail, and which outfit she thought they would look perfect with.

A mother in a station wagon reversed from a front row spot and Jackie whooped in triumph, smirking at Steven, as she pulled into the space, careful not to park over the concrete block this time. She turned off the car, and turned to Steven with excitement,  
a large grin on her face. "See what patience will do for you? Ha!"

Steven furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes bottomless as they searched hers. "Like you know what it means to be patient, Jackie."

They walked side by side up to the mall's entrance, Jackie beaming at their proximity. Ever since she had broken up with Michael, she had realized just how handsome Steven was. Before, he had only been a burnout, with bad taste in music, and, not to mention,  
poor. But now… Now he had potential. All he needed was someone like Jackie to pamper him, to convince him to shave off those pork chop sideburns, and persuade him that there was music other than Led Zeppelin.

How she had been so blind to him before, she wasn't sure. He wasn't scruffy at all. He was endearing, and brooding. He was sexy, Jackie decided as Steven held the door open for her, his eyes staring over her head into what he probably thought was his  
own personal hell.

"So the shoe store is that way," Jackie said, pointing down the main hall of the mall, stopping by the directory.

Steven was reading over the stores listed, clucking his tongue in dissatisfaction. He shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned around at the other mall patrons milling around them. "Man, I hate this place."

"Why's that?" Jackie asked as she looped her arm through his. Steven jolted at the contact and pulled away. Undeterred, Jackie stepped closer to him, noting the way he swallowed thickly at her proximity.

"Bad memories," Steven said, turning away and stalking towards the food court at the other end of the mall.

"What bad memories?" Jackie persisted, staring up at his profile, keeping pace with him.

"Jackie, stop it," Steven said, looking into stores as they passed.

"I'm just asking a simple question," Jackie countered, pulling him into the shoe store before they passed by.

"No, you're annoying me," Steven grumbled, following behind her.

"Why are you always in a bad mood?" Jackie asked, wandering down an aisle of women's shoes. She picked up a couple of the display shoes, holding them this way and that, before plopping them back down on the shelf. She looked up at Steven as she continued  
down the aisle, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder.

"I'm not always in a bad mood," Steven defended angrily.

Jackie huffed. "You are whenever you're around me."

"Funny coincidence," Steven deadpanned.

"Ha, ha," Jackie said, coming to a stop before a selection of clogs. She slipped out of her boots and pulled a couple boxes from their shelves. Steven grumbled and began to tap his foot impatiently. He pulled random boxes from their shelves, shoving them  
back into place roughly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the shelving unit, staring blankly as Jackie.

"Are you going to be long?" He asked gruffly as Jackie tried on her third pair of clogs, standing in them and walking down the aisle back and forth. She paused before a mirror and posed.

"What do you think of these?" Jackie asked, turning to him, her hands on her hips. Steven's eyes glanced to her feet.

"They're 'groovy', let's go."

"Oh, you're no help," Jackie said waving her hand at him, dismissively. "Go look at the men's shoes."

Steven pushed off the shelving unit, disappearing down the aisle towards the men's section. Jackie watched him go, feeling a fleeting fear that he would abandon her here, taking his chance to escape.

Jackie tried on the last pair of clogs, modeling them before the short mirror attached to a small stool. She turned her foot this way and that, her lips pursed in satisfaction. These would definitely do to replace the pair that had been stolen. She sat  
on the stool and repacked them in their box, slipping her own boots back over her feet.

Jackie tucked the box under her arm and made her way over to the men's section, preparing herself to find that Steven had indeed bolted. But there he was, in a section for Frye boots, testing out a new pair of camel colored boots. She clutched her new  
clogs to her chest and approached Steven.

"Those are nice," She observed.

Steven glanced up at her. He nodded his head in agreement and then kicked the boots off. "Yeah, but man, eighty bucks for boots? They're just begging to be shoplifted."

"Steven, you can't," Jackie said, looking over her shoulders to see if anyone had heard him.

Steven slipped his old boots back on his feet and replaced the new boots in their box. He stepped closer to Jackie and glanced around the store. "Haven't you ever shoplifted anything?"

"No," Jackie scoffed. "Of course not. _I'm_ not poor."

"It's not about being poor, Jackie, it's about the rush, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through your veins."

Jackie reached for the box. "I'll just buy them for you."

Steven pulled away from her and stuffed the box back onto the shelf. "I don't want them."

"What are you talking about, they're perfect for you!" Jackie argued, reaching for the box. "You can't keep wearing those," she pointed down at his current pair, "they're practically falling apart."

"Jackie, don't buy them for me," Steven objected, attempting to push her away down the aisle.

"I will do whatever I want to, Steven," Jackie countered, rolling her eyes. She pulled the boot box from the shelf and stacked the two boxes in her hands, turning towards the register. "This is what friends do for friends."

"Not any friend I've ever had."

"That's because you were raised poor, Steven, and you've never had the luxury of a rich friend, like me. But now you do, so shut up," Jackie called over her shoulder, plopping the boxes onto the counter.

Steven was waiting for her outside the store. Jackie handed him the bag with his new boots and smiled up at him, rolling her shoulders in way that showed how pleased with herself she was. She bounced on the balls of her feet, swinging her shoppers bag  
back and forth in front of her.

"Ok, so you bought me boots, but if we're really going to be friends, you gotta let me do something for you now too," Steven said. He smirked down at her and began to walk down the hall.

Jackie jogged to catch up to him. "Ok, like what?"

"I'm going to teach you how to shoplift."

"Stealing? Steven, I know how to steal," Jackie said cockily.

Steven stopped, Jackie jerking to a stop beside him. Steven looked at Jackie critically. "I bet you do."

Jackie crossed her arms, her shopping bag bouncing against her thighs. "Well, I do!"

"What's the last thing you stole?" Steven threw back, his lips quirked up in a smile.

"Well." Jackie's eyes bounced around the brightly lit mall. "I stole Marcy Cavanaugh's lipstick freshman year."

Steven laughed, shaking his head. "Jackie, that doesn't count. You've gotta steal something from a store, something other than stupid makeup."

"Fine," Jackie bit out. "Teach me, if you're so sure of yourself."

"With pleasure," Steven smiled. "But you gotta do everything I say. Alright?"

"But-"

"No 'buts', everything I say, Burkhart."

Jackie pouted, swinging her shoulders back and forth. "Fine."

Steven didn't say anything, but raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Jackie dropped her arms to her sides. "Fine. I promise to do everything you say."

Steven smirked at her, his eyes flicking down her form and then up to her eyes. Jackie slapped her open palm against his chest, eliciting a laugh from Steven. "Ok, ok, let's find the place."

They started off down towards the Sears at the end of the mall, both in silence.

As they passed the Claire's Jackie grew excited. "Oh, I need new earrings!"

"No," Steven said, passing the store without glancing in its direction.

"But Steven!"

"Jackie, just trust me," Steven said, quickening his pace as a Sam Goody came into view.

Jackie hurried after him. The bell chimed overhead as they entered the store, and a lone clerk watched them enter from the counter, smacking on a piece of gum. Steven led her over to the rock section, his fingers running over the tops of some vinyl as  
he made his way down the aisle. Jackie followed close behind, bumping into him when he stopped abruptly before the Led Zeppelin section.

"I'm not stealing Led Zeppelin," Jackie said. Steven turned to her, shushing her loudly. The clerk had wandered a few aisles over, and he looked at them over the display shelves.

"You said to do what I said," Steven countered, his voice soft. He moved down the aisle and over one to the cassettes.

"Yeah," Jackie whispered back, following him. "But I don't like Led."

"Led Zeppelin."

"That's what I said."

"No, it's Led Zeppelin, or just Zeppelin, but never just Led," Steven said.

Jackie rolled her eyes, scanning the stack of tapes. "Whatever."

Steven pulled a couple cassettes from the stack, and before Jackie could comprehend, had them in his jacket pockets. She perked up once she realized he had stashed them on his person, her eyes looking up at the store clerk as he rounded an end cap and  
came closer to them. She stepped closer to Steven and tugged on his sleeve. "What are you doing?"

"Did you find something you want?" Steven asked, avoiding her question.

"Well, no, I haven't been looking." Jackie said, gripping his sleeve tighter in her fingers.

"Well, start looking, Jackie," Steven said, pulling her hand off of him. He slipped a tape into his shopping bag discretely and Jackie glanced again at the store clerk. Steven gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. Jackie's heart began to pound  
in her chest. "Stop staring at the clerk, you'll give us away."

Jackie pulled away and straightened her shoulders. She turned on her heel and marched down the aisle to the pop section. Steven followed at a short distance, nonchalant.

Steven stepped close to Jackie as she stopped in front of the Bee Gee's. "You could at least steal something decent."

"Hey, I like the Bee Gee's."

"Doesn't make them decent." Steven said, skirting around her. Jackie scowled as he came to a stop at her other side. Steven picked up a Captain and Tennille tape, grimacing at the cover. The heat of his body was seeping into Jackie's side, and she shifted  
her weight so she was closer to him.

"I didn't make a big deal out of you liking Led." Jackie picked up the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, flipping it over to read the song list on its back cover.

"Jackie, it's Led _Zeppelin_."

"That's what I freaking said, Steven." Jackie said, slipping the tape into her shopper's bag and moving down the aisle. She stopped at Leif Garrett, slipping the cassette into her bag without hesitation.

He growled as he followed her, his annoyance palpable. "Jackie, don't be so brazen. If you get caught, I'll leave you here, I swear."

"Can I help you guy's find something?" The store clerk said, startling them. He rounded the aisle's corner, his eyes pinging down to the bags in their hands and up to their faces.

"No, man, we're good," Steven assured the clerk, flipping through a row of vinyl at the end cap.

"Well, if you need anything, I'll be over here." The clerk shuffled off towards the register, glancing back at them over his shoulder.

Jackie slapped Steven's arm and hissed, "He knows we're doing something!"

"Cause you're acting suspicious, Jackie, just be cool," Steven replied, leaning close to her. His breath warmed her face and Jackie had to remind herself to breathe. Steven held her gaze, searching her eyes. Jackie felt her body leaning close to his,  
her chin angling up to meet his mouth when Steven jerked away, his eyes closing off.

"I am not," She spluttered, reaching for a tape at random. Her skin felt slick with sweat and she shook out her arms, the stolen tapes rattling conspicuously against the box holding her new clogs.

Steven didn't say anything in response, walking back to the rock section. Jackie chewed on her lower lip as she watched him go, her heart racing in her chest. The straps of the shopping bag dug into her palms. She shifted her weight, scouring over the  
tapes before her. Ten minutes passed, and Jackie pretended to be interested in buying something as the clerk passed by her once, twice and then over to pass by Steven. Steven looked up at her over the display shelves, his eyebrows high on his forehead.  
His eyes were saying something to her and Jackie shrugged her shoulders in confusion. Steven glowered, rolling his eyes. He glanced over at the store clerk and then back to Jackie, rolling his shoulders, as he turned up the aisle towards the entrance.  
He moved with confidence, out of the store, almost with a swagger at his brazenness.

The clerk watched him leave, his eyes swinging back around to Jackie at the back of the store. She watched Steven's form glide down the main hall of the mall, never once looking back at her.

 _Jerk._

"Alright, Burkhart," Jackie whispered to herself, looking down at the cassettes without seeing. "You can do this."

Jackie made her way up the aisle, stopping at random at several sections as she made her way towards the entrance, gripping the handles on her shopping bag. She hummed under her breath and found she couldn't help but shift her weight from foot to foot.  
The clerk was watching her every move, his elbows perched on the counter, chin cradled on his clasped hands. Pausing at a section for KISS albums, Jackie reached for one of the vinyl, pretending to be engrossed in the face of Gene Simmons. A young  
couple entered the store, arguing loudly, drawing the attention of the clerk and Jackie took the opportunity, walking quickly out of the Sam Goody and in the direction she had seen Steven disappear.

She ran down the mall, the heels of her bootsclacking loudly on the tiled floor. Jackie glanced over her shoulder at the shrinking music store, her pounding heart only slowly marginally when she didn't see anyone in pursuit.

Steven was at the food court, leaning against a pillar and eating a pretzel when Jackie found him. She was out of breath, clenching her items in her hands. He chewed on his pretzel thoughtfully and gazed at her as she drew near, panting. He took a large  
bite and glanced down at her hands, gesturing with his pretzel. "You know, the whole 'shoplifting' thing works a lot better when you hide the merchandise."

"What?" Jackie asked, confused. She looked down to her hands, to find her fingers still wrapped around the KISS album. Quickly, she stuffed it into her shopping bag.

Jackie wiped her brow, tossing her ponytail over her shoulders. Steven smiled, a genuine smile, and offered her a piece of his pretzel. Jackie tore off a large piece and stuffed it into her mouth. "You ready to get out of here?"

"Yes!" Jackie exclaimed around her mouthful. For the first time in her whole life, she couldn't wait to leave the mall. Her hands were uncomfortably sweaty, and she had to readjust her grip on her shoppers bag; her heart was pounding in her chest, and  
her skin felt flush with the adrenaline that coursed through her veins. She felt powerful. Invincible.

Steven raised an eyebrow at her. "Never thought I live to see the day where I'd hear that come from your mouth."

Jackie smiled and turned out of the food court towards the exit, Steven following at a short distance.

-x-

"Steven, I've had a great time hanging out with you," Jackie said, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, it wasn't so bad," Steven agreed. Jackie beamed at him, as she started the engine. Steven settled his shopper's bag between his knees. "You shouldn't have bought me the boots though. Should've let me shoplift them."

"No, no, I want you to have them." Jackie turned in her seat, drawing her lower lip into her mouth.

Steven turned to look at her, and Jackie felt like time had stopped. She could hear the blood in her veins whooshing in her ears, like a shell echoing the waves of the ocean. Swallowing thickly, she took a deep breath, shoving out all thought from her  
mind and leaned forward, pressing her mouth to Steven's in a gentle kiss.

.

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 **Muahahahahahaha.**

 **Well, first of all, sorry this has taken so long to be posted. There are parts of this chapter that I like, and a lot of parts that I don't particularly care for, but I can't keep staring at it sitting on my laptop or I'll go crazy. And write more drafts and more drafts and never be satisfied with it. Anywho, hope y'all enjoy! Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Old Man**

 **Chapter 11**

 _Sailin' away, on the crest of a wave_

 _It's like magic,_

 _Oh, rollin' and ridin' and slipin' and slidin'_

 _It's magic,_

 _And you, and your sweet desire_

 _You took me, ohh, higher and higher, baby._

 _-Livin' Thing,_ Electric Light Orchestra

-x-

Steven swept the tips of his fingers across his lips, hoping to dispel the feeling of Jackie's smooth skin against his own. He pushed his sunglasses up his forehead with his free hand, the other grasping his upper lip between thumb and forefinger, squeezing the sensitive flesh roughly, causing his nose to tingle, as if he needed to sneeze. Releasing his lip, he ran his tongue over the swollen flesh, back and forth, leaning back against the dresser behind his cot. The air around him was hazy with the smoke from his last private circle

Why had he pushed Jackie away? Had he not waited, waited patiently, for a perfect moment to kiss her?

And he had fucking panicked, reeling away from Jackie as though she were diseased, scolding her at her audacity in kissing him. She had looked so desperately forlorn, her doe eyes filling with tears, and for once, silent, drawn back into herself. Steven had wanted nothing more than to reach across the infinite space between them, gather her into his arms and never let another tear cascade over her apple cheeks. Instead he had pushed her away.

Like a fucking idiot.

Chicks and crying, it did things to him. Made him stupid. Add Jackie to the mix, and it was a recipe for disaster.

God, he was such an idiot. Steven leaned forward on his cot, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. His eyes stared down at the concrete floor without seeing. He was sitting in his basement room, yes, but mentally, he was still in the front seat of the Lincoln, basking in the breeze from the open windows as Jackie drove them back to the Forman's from the mall. The Eagles cassette Steven had stolen filled the otherwise silent cabin, and Jackie sung along with him to Take It Easy, angling her head so that the flyaway hairs that had escaped her ponytail danced in the breeze. Steven didn't think she could be more appealing than she was in that moment, utterly at peace, utterly without pretense of impressing anyone. She was simply Jackie. Bounced back from a moment of rejection as though nothing embarrassing had ever transpired in her life.

No one would have ever guessed that Steven had rejected her kiss. It was as if it had happened in some alternate universe. Some dream world.

"Steven?" Jackie had questioned, her voice small, but resilient, as she threw the Lincoln in park at the curb before the Forman's house. She reached out and turned down the volume on the radio. Silence pulsed in Steven's ears, competing with his heartbeat.

"Yeah?" Steven gripped the door handle, his knuckles white. He felt like a deer before the hunter took his shot, frozen, adrenaline coursing through his veins, waiting for the signal to bolt.

Jackie was turned towards him; her right leg bent at the knee and tucked up under her. She fiddled with her hands, turning a thin gold band over and over her middle finger on her right hand. She looked around the car, at the dash, out the window, down to her hands in her lap.

Steven watched her action, his body aching with tension. He needed a joint, stat. He licked his lips and bit out, "What Jackie?"

She had sighed then. Her large, doe eyes now focused out the windshield. The interior lights of the Lincoln began to fade, slowing enveloping them in darkness, and it was only then, in the relative safety of semi-darkness, that Steven released his death grip on the door handle, his knuckles aching. Jackie seemed small, naïve, and yet a force to be reckoned with when she spoke next.

"I don't want Michael to think I'm going back to him," Jackie stated. She turned her glittering eyes on Steven, their irises reflecting the glowing street lamps set evenly down the quiet street.

"I don't understand." Steven started, shaking his head, "why would Kelso think you're going back to him?"

Jackie bit her lip. She reached across the leather bench seat and wrapped her fingers around Steven's. His heart felt too large in his chest. "It's like you said: I can do so much better than Michael."

Steven felt his hand grasp hers, squeezing in confidence. "You can, Jackie."

"It's just," Jackie looked down at her lap. "He always does something to draw me back, Steven, and I don't want to take him back again. He's such a jerk, and a liar, and I should be with someone who deserves me. Someone who will treat me like the princess that we all know I am. I don't want to go back to him, Steven."

"Then don't." Steven asserted.

"I don't plan on it," Jackie responded, her eyes dark as they bored into his own. Her fingers felt clammy against his skin. "My heart wants someone else now. I think it has for a while."

The windows of the Lincoln had started to fog with their body heat. They both watched as a lone vehicle make its way down the street, briefly illuminating both of their faces and Steven felt himself pull away and closing down. This closeness with Jackie was dangerous. Much more, and he would be the one leaning across the bench seat, closing the gap, caressing her cheeks with the pads of his fingers as his lips covered her own. Steven turned away and snapped open the car door, his shopping bag of boots and pilfered cassette tapes rattling in his sweaty palms. He remembered his Eagles cassette still in the Lincoln tape deck and waved it off as lost. There was no way he was getting back into that car, alone with Jackie. He'd steal it back later, when she was gone.

"Come on, Jackie, let's get inside," Steven called from the lawn, facing away from her. He heard Jackie exit the car, her wedges clicking on the concrete till she reached him in the yard, the grass shuffling about her bell-bottoms.

Jackie walked resolutely by his side, her warmth soaking into him as it had the whole of the evening. The Forman's house was lit up, lighting the yard, and they followed its yellow glow through the side yard and down to the empty basement.

It was almost normal again, maybe better than normal, given that they had cut out their burns on one another. Jackie had set her KISS album on the record player, and Steven had burned a lone circle, taking his new boots from their box and rubbing the corner of his plaid shirt over the gleaming leather. They were quiet, listening to Gene Simmons voice, Steven slipping the boots onto his feet, testing the tightness of the leather around his ankles, and Jackie skimming the highlights of the latest Tiger Beat magazine. It was comfortable, easy, and Steven wondered if this is what it would be like if he were to date Jackie.

If this was what dating Jackie was like, then he definitely couldn't understand why Kelso had cheated so many times.

And when Kelso had come in, guitar strung across his chest and sparse stubble over his chiseled jaw, Steven had watched Jackie from behind the safety of his shades, gauging her reaction. She had sat perched on the arm of the couch, leg crossed at the knee, utterly indifferent. Her mismatched eyes flicked over to Steven, rolling in exasperation, and Steven felt a small smile lift the corner of his mouth.

It was the last kiss, the innocent one, the one for show, placed on the corner of his mouth that had done it. Because this time, he felt his lips pucker of their own accord, searching for her own, only to have Jackie be the one who pulled away. The indignation from Fez and Kelso was some sort of consolation to her sashay out of the basement, but now, as he sat perched in his room, plagued by the memory of it all, it was too much. He was acting like a fucking lovesick preteen girl.

There didn't seem to be any denying it to himself now.

He had feelings for Jackie Burkhart.

Maybe he always had had feelings for Jackie Burkhart.

Steven brought to mind all the reasons for which he knew he couldn't like Jackie. One, she was a cheerleader, full of pep and school spirit. She cheered for the meathead jocks; she was friends with the popular girls, the rich girls. She only wore the latest fashions, always in competition to be ahead of the crowd, the one to be wearing it first. Perhaps it was that she cared too much, put too much thought into the material that irked him so. Money was important to her. Steven had never had much of that in his life. Gifts were her lifeblood, if her relationship with Kelso was any indication. The best gift Steven had gotten was not finding a half naked man sprawled on top of his mother when he rushed, excited, into the living room on Christmas morning. Jackie never left the house without being perfectly coifed and made-up, minus the one time she had accosted him, looking like medusa, after their trip to the reservoir. She liked the total opposite of his taste in music and skated at the roller disco. She was needy, with a loud shrill voice. She was controlling, bitchy, and dropped burns like atomic bombs, seemingly without any conscious knowledge she had done so, making them all the more dangerous.

Steven rubbed his hands down his face again, standing from his cot with a sigh. He shuffled over to his record player, flipping the vinyl to the B-side, resetting the needle on the first track.

Steven slid back onto his cot, falling onto his stomach. There was also the fact that Jackie was only using him to get over Kelso. It was a vicious circle: Kelso cheats, Jackie breaks up with him, Kelso comes back, spouts the words that Jackie needs to hear, and Jackie takes him back. It was known amongst the gang. Jackie and Kelso always came back together.

No matter what she said, Jackie and Kelso were super glued at the hip. Jackie could yell it from the rooftops, that she was really and truly over Kelso, and Steven didn't think he'd ever really believe her. She could date Forman _and_ Fez and he didn't think he would still completely believe that Jackie and Kelso were truly over and done.

It was just the way he operated. He had been pushed aside too many times, had been used and played, that he had grown to push women away before they could be the ones to push him away.

Edna had always chosen a lover over her son, disappearing for days, sometimes weeks, at a time, only to make a grand return, bitter and destructive. And after a brief period, where Steven could feel like Edna was changing, going to stay this time, for good, she was going to make good on her promises, Randy The Trucker, Uncle Don, Uncle Glen, Joe Schmoe From The Piggly Wiggly, would promise her something more, and she'd be gone. It was all the same. Chrissy, The Post Office Lady, anyone he met, he never let himself grow attached.

Which was what made Jackie so dangerous. She was always there. Whether with Kelso, or chasing after Steven, he couldn't go a day without seeing her, regardless if he wanted to or not. Attachment was coming to get him, just like The Man.

Steven rolled over onto his back, staring up through the dark at the ceiling. He sighed heavily and flopped onto his side, in an attempt to get comfortable. The whole gang were taking the Cruiser to East Troy for a concert in a few days, he'd find some sleazy groupie, and put an end to this Jackie nonsense. He just had to stay aloof, Zen, towards her till then. Steven settled into his blankets. Zen had never failed him before, it wouldn't fail him now, so help him god.

-x-

September 2nd, 1977

Steven puffed hard on the end of a joint as Eric drove them out of Point Place towards East Troy, Wisconsin. He was wedged in the backseat, next to Fez who was sandwiched between Steven and Kelso, the latter of whom had Laurie perched on his lap. It was Steven's only saving grace to keeping Jackie firmly in the front seat, her stark refusal to sit anywhere that put her in contact with Laurie. She had yelped out her place at shotgun as soon as Kelso had slid into the backseat, skirting away from Steven and around the front fender of the Cruiser. Also, it put Jackie on the complete opposite side of the vehicle. Win-win.

Fez motioned for the joint and Steven passed it over, holding it between his thumbnail and pointer. The joint was nearly gone. Steven had started it with Donna in the front middle passenger's seat, letting it work it's way around the front bench and back to Steven in the hopes that once it reached Kelso and Laurie, it would be almost finished, diminishing the groups chances of catching any potential slut rabies from the couple.

Jackie peered over her shoulder, from her spot in the front passenger's seat, and Steven stared resolutely at the back of Forman's fluffy head of hair. Fez exhaled a lungful of sweet smoke, clouding the Cruiser. Eric inched the driver's window down, letting in a thin stream of air. He curled his long fingers out the window and drummed them on the roof of the car, nodding his head along to the radio.

"Pass it over, Fez, don't hog it!" Kelso whined, looking around Laurie's full, feathered hair. He snatched the butt of a joint from Fez and inhaled deeply. He exhaled, blowing the smoke so it encased Jackie's head. She waved a hand before her face, dispelling the smoke, but was otherwise silent. Steven nodded his head in appreciation. His lessons in Zen seemed to be better than he had expected. Jackie had been nothing but Zen the whole night.

As soon as Kelso had pranced into the basement with Laurie on his arm, Jackie had grown unnaturally quiet. While Laurie stroked Michael's chest with long, manicured fingers, Jackie kept her attention set firmly on television, ignoring the side long glances Laurie shot her way, in an attempt to upset the younger girl. The most Jackie had spoken thus far was to claim shotgun and insist that they not listen to The Stones. Otherwise, the car was mostly silent, broken only with the sounds of Steven striking the flint on his lighter, flipping the lid closed over the flame, over and over, and Forman's ELO 8-track tape.

Forman accelerated onto the highway, the Cruiser giving a high-pitched whine. Donna turned up the radio to cover the sound, leaning against Eric as he called over his shoulder, "Alright, folks, forty minutes till we are at rock concert central!"

"Score!" Michael called, taking a last small hit on the joint. He held the smoke in his lungs and drew Laurie close, pressing an open mouth kiss to her lips. Laurie swept her claw like fingers through his hair, accepting his smoke while Fez gazed in awe and the rest of the group tried in vain to ignore the sound of their lips smacking against one another.

Jackie glanced over her shoulder again, this time making eye contact with Steven.

 _Zen,_ Steven mouthed at her, hoping she understood him. Jackie rolled her eyes and faced forward again, mouthing _Whatever_. A close-lipped grin skirted across Steven's lips as he turned away, staring out at the window at the dark Wisconsin urban sprawl that flew past them. He had given her his best weapon, a lesson in Zen, to use against Laurie. Steven refused to think about how now Jackie had a weapon of her own against him. She'd be able to see through all his ploys. He'd just have to up the game, change it up. After all, she was only a beginner, not a Zen Master, as he was.

Michael and Laurie drew away from one another with a sound like a suction cup. Kelso leaned around Laurie, reaching around Fez to tap Steven on the arm. "Hey, Hyde man, you got another joint? I hardly got enough to feel all tingly."

"I'm saving them for the concert, Kelso," Steven said around Fez.

"Come on, just one more," Kelso wailed. Laurie wiped around the edges of her mouth, her blue eyes fixed maliciously on the back of Jackie's head. She reached forward, fingering a lock of Jackie's hair, shifting it just slightly in her hands that Jackie reached back, swiping her hand about her head, thinking maybe it had gotten caught in the seat, or possibly a bug was in it. Laurie altered her position in Kelso's lap and knocked her knees against the back of Jackie's seat, jolting her and Donna. Kelso ignored Laurie, seemingly forgetting about her as he scooted closer to Fez. "I wanna feel good before the concert starts too, man, come on."

A snort from the front seat, and Jackie pursed her lips. Donna looked over to the brunette and then over her shoulder at Laurie and Kelso, a scowl on her lips. "Kelso, quit whining like a little baby."

"But everyone else had a good turn except for me!"

Steven rolled his eyes. "You're killing my buzz, Kelso, shut up. I'll light a new joint, alright?"

"Alright!" Michael adjusted his position under Laurie, staring in unabashed anticipation as Steven withdrew a second joint from the baggie in his pocket and lit it with his zippo. He placed it between his lips and took the first toke.

"Hey, man! Not fair!" Michael sputtered, reaching around Fez. Steven slapped his hand away.

"When you supply the bud, then you can get the first hit, Kelso," Steven said, keeping the joint just out of reach. He took another hit and then passed it to Fez, ignoring Kelso's scoff of indignation. Fez took a small toke before passing it to Kelso.

Kelso and Laurie took deep hits, burning through more than half the joint between the two of them. But when Kelso tried to pass the joint up front to Donna, she took it tentatively, as if waiting for it to explode like a toy cigar. She tore off the butt end of the paper, reaching across Jackie to toss the soggy end out the cracked window.

"Ew, Donna, watch it!" Jackie cried, cringing away from the pulpy piece of paper as it fluttered out of Donna's fingers and into the night. Donna wiped her fingers on the thigh of his jeans, taking a languid hit.

"Awe, is the little child afraid of a bit of paper?" Laurie sneered from the backseat.

"More like of catching some incurable STD from your saliva," Jackie shot back, staring out the windshield.

"Burn!" Eric said appreciatively, slowing to take the exit towards the Alpine Valley Music Theatre. He squeezed in behind a line of cars waiting to pull into the lot. "Alright, everyone, roll the windows down. We gotta air this baby out."

Steven and Michael cranked the windows down, letting in fresh air, while Jackie resolutely refused to roll her window all the way down, stating It'll Mess Up My Hair, Doofus, when Eric complained that hers was still up. Eric pulled out his wallet, handing the security guard at the entry to the parking lot a five-dollar bill for parking. Donna leaned in close, and placed a kiss on Forman's cheek. Steven felt his lip curl at the sight. They'd been all lovey-dovey lately; it was starting to piss him off.

The group grew edgy with anticipation as Eric followed the row of cars to their parking space, pulling into the spot a man with a glowing orange flashlight directed him to. It was a strange excitement, like waiting for a roller coaster to start moving that rolled over them. They reeled up the windows, and Eric went around to each door to make sure it had been properly locked as the gang milled about on the graveled asphalt. Jackie smoothed her hair, and made her way to stand close by Steven, her eyes roaming the parking lot at the other concertgoers making their way up to the Music Theatre. She slid her purse further up her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest, briefly catching Steven's eye with a small, close-lipped smile.

"Man, this is so exciting!" Kelso said, a silly grin on his face as he came to stand by Steven and Jackie at the front of the Cruiser. "Last concert we went to was Todd Rundgren, that feels like forever ago!"

"Kelso, you didn't even see that concert," Donna reminded him, slipping her hand into Eric's palm. She jumped when Jackie slapped the back of her hand across Donna's arm, each of them throwing the other dirty looks. Donna tugged at Eric's arm looped with her own and they started off together across the parking lot, leaving the rest of the gang behind.

"Oh, yeah," Kelso said, smiling over at Jackie. He sauntered over to his ex girlfriend, ignoring the way his current girlfriend crossed her arms angrily over her chest, hip cocked and head tilted. Michael slung his arm around Jackie's shoulders and looked down at her with a shit-eating grin. "I remember spending a much better time in the back of the Cruiser."

Michael waggled his eyebrows at Jackie. She shot him a look of loathing, slapping his arm off of her shoulder. "I don't remember what you're talking about, Michael."

"Ah, Jackie, sure you do," Michael persisted, gesticulating to the rear of the Cruiser. "This was the first place you let me stick my fingers-"

"Shut up!" Jackie screeched, interrupting him, her eyes blazing with anger. "I hate you, Michael Kelso!"

Jackie spun about face and stalked off after Donna and Eric, headed towards the box office. Fez took a deep breath, his eyebrows high on his smooth forehead. He walked backwards a few paces then whirled around, chasing off after Jackie and the others.

Steven clapped a hand on Michael's shoulder. "Good job, Kelso."

"What? What did I say?" Michael looked between Steven and an irate Laurie.

Shaking his head, Steven started off after the others, leaving Michael and Laurie behind. He could hear the two begin to argue, and Michael yelp as Laurie slapped her open palms on every inch she could reach. Looking back over his shoulder at the couple as he squeezed between a Pinto and a Camaro, Steven saw Laurie launch herself into Kelso's arms, the two falling against the side of the Cruiser in a passionate embrace, lips roaming each others cheeks, necks, and mouths.

"That took long," Steven muttered to himself.

"Where are Laurie and Kelso?" Eric asked as Steven met them at the sidewalk before the box office. Jackie was pacing like a feral cat, her arms crossed tight over her chest and her face drawn into a deep scowl.

Steven pursed his lips, "Making up, I think."

"Making up?" Jackie squawked. She huffed, then scoffed, and then shrieked a shrill bark of a laugh. Stamping her foot, she turned away from the little group, her shoulders tense and arms stiff by her sides. Jackie turned back to Donna and wrapped her thin fingers around Donna's bicep. "Donna, I need to use the bathroom." Jackie swung them around towards the entrance. Eric and Steven could hear her huff "Oh, I hate him with every fiber of my being" as she drug Donna around the security guard at the main entrance and into the theatre.

"Got your ticket?" Eric asked, pulling his own from his jacket pocket. He studied the thick black lettering, bridging it between his two hands. He grimaced when he asked, "Should we wait for Kelso and Laurie?"

"No, man, let's get to our seats," Steven said, nudging Fez towards the entrance.

"What about Donna and Jackie?" Eric asked, pausing by the entrance to the ladies bathroom once they had entered the venue.

Fez stopped by Eric, looking towards Steven. "Yes, we should wait for the women."

"They can read, they'll find us," Steven argued, taking a couple more steps away from them. Eric and Fez didn't budge though, so Steven sauntered back over to them, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Now that Jackie hates Kelso," Fez started, picking at his nails. "Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"No," Steven emphasized, rocking on the balls of his feet.

Eric's eyebrows raised on his smooth forehead. "Yeah, man, you know how much Jackie dislikes foreigners. She stopped eating at The Hub when Frank hired Guillermo for that week."

Fez sighed. "True."

Donna and Jackie emerged then from the bathroom, Donna looking harried and Jackie with a bounce in her step. Jackie stopped close to Steven, looking up at his face with a small smile. Steven stared back, full of Zen. She slipped her arm through his, pulling herself close to him. Eric and Fez looked at the pair with narrowed eyes. Pulling away roughly, Steven started down the concourse towards their seats, rolling his eyes when Jackie reappeared at his side, nearly jogging to match his stride. She herded him and the others towards the concessions, making them all stand in line for twenty minutes before it was their turn to order. It was as if nothing had ever happened to blacken her day. Just like the time she had kissed him and he had rejected her. Did anything breach this girl's unicorn addled, Donny Osmond loving, brain?

"Who is the opener again?" Jackie asked as they made their way down the narrow aisle to their seats. "I've never seen this band live, actually, I've never even been to a real live concert. Well, unless you count that one time Daddy took me to see John Denver in the park in New York during the summer before freshman year. But I don't think that was a _real_ concert, I mean, yeah there was music, but you could come and go and Daddy and Mother were in an argument, so I don't remember too much of it."

"John Denver, huh?" Steven said tiredly, sliding into their row of seats. "Exciting."

"I guess," Jackie sighed. She slipped into the seat next to him, her eyes scanning over the filling hall. "So who was the opener again?"

Steven looked down at his ticket stub. "I don't think there is an opening band, Jackie."

"Oh," Jackie pouted, looking to her left as Donna, Fez and Eric filed into their row. She looked back over her shoulder, up towards the entrance to their section. "Where do you think Michael and Laurie are?"

"Who cares?" Steven mumbled, slipping his jacket off his shoulders and draping it over the seat of his chair. Jackie followed his lead. She folded her jacket neatly and placed it over the back of her seat, cradling her purse in its folds.

"I don't care," Jackie rolled her eyes, smoothing her hair back from her face. "I just don't like it."

"It sounds like you care," Steven argued.

Jackie fixed a glare on Steven. "Well, I don't."

"Then quit talking about Kelso."

"I wasn't _talking_ about Kelso, I just asked where he was."

"Because you care."

"Steven, stop being so difficult."

Steven smirked. A couple next to him had lit a joint and he reached into his pocket for his own stash, drawing out a rolled blunt. The lights were low and Jackie watched him lite the end, taking a long hit.

"I want to try it," Jackie blurted, licking her glossed lips.

"What, this?" Steven said, exhaling a cloud of smoke in Jackie's face on accident. She waved a hand before her face, scowling. "I don't think you really want to, Jackie."

Jackie crossed her arms. "Just give it to me, Steven."

"Have you ever smoked anything before?"

"No, what does that matter?" Jackie licked her lips again and held out her hand. "Just hand it over."

"Whatever you say, doll." Steven held out the joint for Jackie.

Jackie held the burning joint like a cigarette between her fingers. She licked her lips a third time and placed the joint there; taking a long, hard inhale, like she was a pro at smoking hash. Steven watched with raised eyebrows, as Jackie's face turned a beet red, her face scrunching up as vicious coughs racked her lungs. Donna and Eric burst out in laughter as Jackie doubled over. Fez peered around Eric, his hand clutched at his heart.

"Is the goddess alright?"

"Arms, over your head," Steven said, laughing quietly. He took the joint from Jackie, placing it between his lips, ignoring the taste of her strawberry gloss left on the paper, and grasped both her wrists, raising them over her head. Jackie had tears streaming down her cheeks. She took several deep, steadying breaths. "You feeling better, doll?"

"No!" Jackie gasped. She wrenched her wrists out of Steven's grasp and wiped at her cheeks angrily. "Why didn't you tell me not to take a hit that big?"

"Here, have some of my pop," Steven said, offering her the cup. Jackie took her, taking a few gulps from it. She sighed after drinking deeply, and handed it back to Steven. She turned to Donna and muttered something to her while motioning at her face, to which Donna shook her head no. Jackie ran the tips of her fingers under her eyes, swiping at any residual tracks of mascara from her coughing fit. "Better?"

Jackie blinked rapidly a few times and turned to stare at Steven. "I feel weird."

"Good weird?"

"I don't know. It feels like my fingers and toes are going numb," Jackie said. She pressed her fingers to her face, "I can't feel my face, Steven!"

"Calm down, Jackie, it's not gonna fall off." Steven took a sip from his drink and set it back down at his feet.

Reaching towards him, Jackie grasped his left hand and placed it on her face, moving it around so it cradled first her left cheek, then her right and finally bringing it down to her chest, just above her breast, so he could feel her heart racing beneath her shirt. Steven jerked away. "Don't do that."

"I feel like my heart is pounding in my ears," Jackie said, her voice an octave higher than normal.

The lights dropped in the venue and a couple of people near the stage began to cheer. Steven looked up, able to see the dark silhouettes of the Eagles' file onto the stage and take their places. A guitar was strummed, echoing throughout the arena and the cheers grew louder.

A dark red light lit up the back of the stage, shinning through a cut out of a profile of a chapel surrounded by palm trees, and a lone guitar began to play, strumming out the opening chords to Hotel California. Donna hollered, her hands wrapped around her mouth and began to sway to the beat.

"Oh, my God, I love this song!" Jackie yelled in Steven's ear, pulling him close to her side. She began to hum to the music; off-key and messing up a few of the chords. She swayed in time to Donna, snapping her fingers and wiggling her hips. The two girls smiled at one another, joined in their conspiracy of teenage girls, as if they had a joke no one else knew.

Steven turned away from her, staring up at the stage as Henley beat his drums, the stage suddenly ablaze with light. The crowd went nuts as he began to sing and beside him he could feel Jackie bounce up and down, singing the wrong lyrics.

Donna met his eye over Jackie's head, both of them smirking in amusement. Jackie had always claimed to hate the Eagles. To hear her attempting to sing along was comical to say the least, first in the Lincoln, and now in concert. She swayed from side to side, her face blissfully unaware that she was being laughed at from both sides. Her voice grew in volume when Henley reached a verse she knew and her arms waved over her head.

Steven lit up again, relighting the joint he had given to Jackie. He took a deep hit and passed it over Jackie's head to Donna. His body felt light, and he let the music enter his body. The bass strung along his tendons and he felt his body sway from side to side. The chick next to him was tripping hard, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet and Steven watched her as she shook her hair out over her shoulders, its blonde strands catching the red lights from the stage. She swung her hips, and raised her arms high above her head, exposing more of her mostly bare stomach.

The joint made it's way back to Steven and he burned the last few hits, catching the eye of Blondie to his right. She cooed at him, her dilated eyes round and black. "You smoke? You have more?"

"Yeah, man." Steven said, reaching into his pocket. He placed the joint between Blondie's lips and lit it with his zippo.

Blondie took a huge hit, listing severely to the right, into her friend next to her. She laughed it off, shoving off of her friend and held the joint towards Steven, her eyes unfocused. Steven wasn't even sure if she had taken a toke.

"Steven, pass it over," Jackie demanded, appearing at his side as Blondie clung to her friend. Jackie glared at the other girl, and pressed herself close to Steven.

"I don't think you can handle more, Jackie," Steven said, taking another hit.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Hyde."

"Yeah, don't tell her what to do!" Blondie burst in, shoving Steven's hand holding to joint towards Jackie. Her dark eyes grew wider and she pushed past Steven so she was standing next to Jackie. Long fingers combed through Jackie's hair as both girls stared at one another. Blondie's fingers skated over Jackie's face, tracing her eyebrows. "You are so pretty! Your hair is totally perfect! And your skin!"

Jackie preened. "I know! I'm gorgeous!"

Blondie laughed with her.

"Alright you two, time to separate!" Steven yelled over the din as Hotel California was finished and the crowd erupted in cheers. "There's a freaking concert going on around you!"

"Come here Vanessa!" Another girl appeared, dragging Blondie back to her seat. "God, this is the last time I babysit you on your trips!"

"Oh, Steven!" Jackie said, taking a small hit off of the joint. "She was so sweet!"

"Yeah, amazing," Steven muttered.

Jackie coughed a bit with her tokes and then passed back to Steven. She swayed along to the music, no longer attempting to sing along and Steven found himself watching her out of the corner of his eye. The rest of the concert passed by in a blur, punctuated with certain flashes of song. Glen Frey singing Lyin' Eyes and Jackie swaying slower than usual; Rocky Mountain Way and Joe Walsh; the band left the stage under a tumultuous applause, only to reappear about five minutes later for an encore, the screams of those around him pulsing through Steven's ears and he found he was one of them, his throat raw as the band struck up again, playing two more songs that blurred through his brain. He was brought back to earth by Jackie slapping at his arm, motioning that Fez, Donna and Eric were beginning to file out of the aisle, leaving them behind. A few more people were following them and Steven grasped Jackie's arm.

"No wait, let's see if they come back!" Steven yelled into her ear over the noise.

Jackie scrunched her nose. "They've already played the encore! How high are you?"

"I know they have! I don't like feeling like I'm being herded like a cow!" Steven responded, looking up towards the stage.

Those gathered around the stage were making no moves to leave and Steven looked across the rows emptying before them. He grabbed his jacket and grasped Jackie's arm again. "Come on!"

"Steven!" Jackie cried, barely catching hold of her jacket and purse as Steven pulled her over the row of seats in front of them. They crossed the next couple of aisles, skirting around departing concertgoers till they reached the open floor. Steven pushed Jackie in front of him, steering her in front of him closer to the stage.

Just as Jackie opened her mouth to speak the lights flashed overhead and the Eagles reappeared, their faces now in great detail under the hot lamps shinning down on them.

"You guys ready for a real show?" Joe Walsh slurred into his mic. He swigged from a beer and fingered his guitar, letting a rift fill the venue.

They began to play again, a bit haphazardly, some songs their own, some others, and some clearly still in the works. Steven moved with the crowd. They jumped, they swayed, they surged towards the stage. Jackie found herself wedged between Steven and another couple, the girl on the guys shoulders.

"Steven! I can't see!" Jackie yelled up to him.

"Here!" Steven said, bringing her around with her back to him. Jackie yelped as Steven stuck his head between her thighs, standing quickly so she was sitting on his shoulders. Jackie raised her arms, feeling as tall as a giant.

Beers were passed around the band, one lone crewmember rushing from band member to band member. A groupie rushed the stage towards the end, stripping herself of her clothes and shaking her naked body for the gathered assembly. Her breasts bounced with each exuberant shake of her hips and Steven found his hands gripping Jackie's thighs around his head harder. Jackie had wrapped her legs under his armpits, the toes of her feet clutching at his back. The warmth of her body soaked into his own and Steven felt unsteady on his feet.

"That's all folks! Have a good night!" Glenn Frey yelled into the mic, taking the nude girl around the waist and swinging her around, leading her off stage.

Steven walked a few paces out of the pit and then leaned down to let Jackie off his shoulders. Her face was flushed when he straightened up again.

"I can't believe the others just left!" Jackie screeched, taking off up the aisle towards the exit to the concourse.

"I know, what idiots!" Steven said, following up after her.

-x-

"Where have you two been? We've been waiting for almost an hour!" Eric reprimanded as Jackie and Steven neared the Vista Cruiser.

"Man! You missed it! They played _two_ encores!"

"It was so cool! They played new music for their next album!"

"There was a naked chick dancing on stage, man!"

"A naked chick?" Fez said, suddenly at attention. "Ai, why didn't I stay?"

Michael and Laurie slid out of the back of the Cruiser then, straightening their clothes. Kelso slung an arm around Laurie's shoulders. "Man, who else is starving?"

A chorus of "Me!" filled the air and everyone piled into the Cruiser. Donna put on her Eagle's 8-track, everyone bursting into song to One Of These Nights, reliving the concert on their own.

Eric drove them back towards Point Place, cruising at a steady pace. The windows were down and Steven found himself watching the way Jackie's hair danced in the wind. She and Donna swayed in their seats, belting the lyrics to Victim of Love, the two girls giddy with the pot in their systems and high off the concert.

Steven turned to stare out the window, a smile on his face. It was as they accelerated onto the highway that he remembered he hadn't actually lived up to his proposal. He hadn't found a groupie to mask the feelings he felt for Jackie. He had let her in more.

Glancing up to the front of the Cruiser, he saw Jackie break out in a peal of laughter, and knew it then. He was a fucking goner. Jackie Burkhart made you more than stupid. She was like a bottle of booze to a recovering alcoholic. She made you lose your fucking head.

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 **A/N: No, I haven't given up on this story! I have the next couple chapters outlined; its just inspiration has not been forthcoming to me lately. A lot has been going on, and whenever I sat down to write, it affected my thought process. But you know what makes a writer feel better? That's right! Reviews! Y'all are the best! Next chapter will be up much sooner!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 _She broke down and let me in,_

 _Made me see where I've been,_

 _Been down one time,_

 _Been down two times,_

 _Never going back again,_

 _You don't know what it means to win,_

 _Come down and see me again._

 _-Never Going Back Again,_ Fleetwood Mac

-x-

Friday, September 2nd, 1977

The Hub

Jackie studied her nails, picking at her cuticles, as the toilet flushed in the stall next to her and Donna emerged, smoothing the hem of her shirt over her hips. Donna swept over to the single sink, dipping her hands under the tap.

Pushing off the paneled wall, Jackie came to stand by Donna at the sink, briefly looking at her reflection next to the redheads in the mirror above the sink. She cleared her throat loudly. Donna's eyes flicked up to meet Jackie's and then back down to the sink. Jackie flipped her hair over her shoulder, and cleared her throat again. "So, Donna, I have something I need to ask you."

Donna looked up at Jackie suspiciously, shaking her wet hands over the sink, sending droplets of water flying in every direction. Jackie stepped back, an indignant "Hey!" falling from her lips. "Sorry. What is it, Jackie?"

"Well," Jackie started, taking over the now vacant mirror. "I was going to ask you what you thought of Steven."

"Hyde?"

"No, Steven Tyler."

Donna rolled her eyes. "What about Hyde?"

Jackie's red-rimmed eyes stared back at her from the mirror and she blinked them rapidly, hoping to dispel the dry itch that overcame them. She fingered her locks, the curls frizzed from sweat from the concert. Pressing her tongue to the back of her teeth, she sucked air into her mouth and searched through her purse for her powder compact. She feigned nonchalance, sweeping the smooth cotton pad over her t-zone and under her eyes. "Well, I was just wondering, what was it like when Steven liked you?"

Donna made a face, her shoulders rising up near her ears. She made a weird, choking noise from the back of her throat. "I don't know, I mean. He was still Hyde."

"Duh," Jackie rolled her eyes, turning to Donna. Snapping the compact closed, she stuffed into the depths of her purse and leaned against the sink, crossing her arms over her chest. "I meant, was he nicer to you? Did he get you presents? What was he like?"

"He did give me a Christmas gift once, a picture of us from, like, elementary school."

Jackie felt her stomach clench. She motioned her hand for Donna to continue. Donna sighed and shifted her weight, leaning back on her left leg. "He was different, I can't really explain it. Like, he knew I was with Eric, but that didn't really seem to matter to him. He kissed me without my permission. He tried to get me to chose himself over Eric, and wasn't all that nice about it. I think that's the first, and only, time I've ever heard Hyde say anything remotely nasty of Eric."

"Right, fine, he made fun of Eric, big deal," Jackie said, waving her hand through the air. "But was Steven nicer to you? Did he make you feel like he would be a good boyfriend to you?"

"What's with the third degree, Jackie?" Donna asked, moving to stand by the bathroom door. She gripped the handle and turned to look at her friend. "I thought this was just a passing fling? Till you and Kelso make up."

"Michael and I are not getting back together," Jackie bit out, suddenly angry. "He's a liar and a cheat and I can't believe I fell for his idiocy. We are never, _ever,_ getting back together."

Donna rolled her eyes again, "Alright, whatever you say," and pushed open the bathroom door. Jackie hurried after her, following the Amazon towards their cluster of tables towards the back. The Hub was packed, so late on a Friday night, and the gang had had to scrounge for their two tables, packing in tightly around them. The boys were leaned in close together, Laurie perched on Kelso's lap and looking utterly bored. She stared out over Michael's head at the sea of high school teens, smacking on a piece of gum. Jackie wished it would pop and cover her head, suffocating Laurie and ridding the world of the skank for the rest of time.

"What are you guys talking about?" Donna asked, taking a seat near Eric. Jackie slipped in the open seat between Eric and Fez, reaching for a basket of fries in the middle of the table.

"Hyde was telling us about the last encore we missed," Fez replied, his voice dripping with jealousy. "I have never seen a naked woman in person before, and now I never will!"

"Oh, Fezzie," Jackie rest her hand on Fez's shoulder. "It's only because you're foreign. Foreigners have the worst luck."

"Ai, I know."

"I don't see what's so amazing about it, it's just a body," Donna remarked, sipping at her soda.

Eric leaned in close to his girlfriend. "So, you wouldn't mind stripping off all your clothing and dancing for us right now, milady?"

"Get bent!" Donna shoved at Eric's shoulder, nearly sending him toppling to the floor.

Eric checked his wrist, sighing dramatically. "Well, gang, we got to be hitting the road. Curfew is in ten."

Laurie snorted. "You still obey curfew?" She rocked in Michael's lap, garnering his attention. "You wanna go to a real party?"

"Hell yeah!" Kelso shot up out of his chair, pulling Laurie along with him.

Jackie fixed her eyes on the table top, willing her face to not betray her emotions. Michael was such a jerk, parading that little slut around her like it was nothing. Like he hadn't just thrown away their whole relationship on that skank. Like he hadn't lied to her, about wanting Jackie back, about being loyal, about truly caring for Jackie like he had never cared for Laurie. And as soon as Jackie had turned him down, made it clear she wasn't falling for his tricks, he had turned straight back to Laurie's hell-fire warmed bed, forever ruining any speck of trust Jackie had ever had in him.

Shoving the basket of fries away, Jackie stood from the table and gathered up her belongings. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt her legs tense with adrenaline. She needed to walk, run, bolt from these feelings. Pretty girls didn't show anger like this in front of others. They went to a private place and broke everything in sight. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Where are you going?" Donna asked, looking up from the table. "Don't you want a ride? It's almost midnight."

"No, thanks, I think I'd rather walk right now," Jackie mumbled, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Princess is going to walk?" Eric snorted.

Jackie shot Eric an eat-shit-and-die look, before swinging around and stalking out of The Hub. The night air was cool on her skin, blowing her hair back from her shoulders as she took off across the pavement. Adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder, Jackie paused at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the light to change so she could cross Green Bay Road.

"Hey!"

Jackie swung around, her eyes wide in surprise, and fists clenched expecting a robber or murderer.

Steven and Fez were jogging towards her and Jackie breathed a sigh of relief. She exhaled hard through her nose and turned back to watching the traffic light. A little blue-white man lit up from across the street, indicating she could cross, and Jackie took off, not bothering to wait for Fez and Steven. Her heart was bleeding in her chest with anger and her teeth hurt from clenching her jaw. All the good parts of the evening, spending the concert with Steven, smoking enough weed to cloud her brain, the private encore, almost date-like between her and Steven, all that was replaced by the stark reminder that Michael had betrayed her. Seeing Laurie splayed out in his lap, her claw fingers in his hair, her glossed lips on Michael's mouth, it was enough to send Jackie into a murderous rage.

"That lying creep!" Jackie cursed under her breath, arms pumping at her sides as she stalked past the post office.

"Jackie!" Steven called. She could hear their feet pounding on the pavement, coming closer to her. "Wait up!"

"Just run faster!" Jackie called back, hearing the bitterness in her voice and not caring.

Whatever feelings she had for Steven were new and innocent. They hadn't had a reason to blow their trust in one another. Jackie couldn't imagine Steven treating her the way Michael had, and that was another thing that pissed her off. If she'd never dated Michael, if she'd never given him her heart, and her body, maybe, _just maybe_ , she'd have dated Steven, giving him all the best parts of her. Instead, she'd wasted them all on cheating Michael. Cheating, insensitive, and idiotic Michael.

Fez and Steven finally caught up to her halfway down Franklin, coming to buffer each side of her. Jackie kept her chin up, eyes trained on the lampposts lining the sidewalk.

"A goddess should not be walking alone," Fez said, panting slightly. "It's dangerous. Someone could take advantage. Like me."

Jackie and Steven both looked to Fez with sneers on their faces. Fez laughed awkwardly. "Oh, I was not being serious. Well, I was being serious about how a goddess should not walk alone, so late at night. But-"

"It's whatever, Fez," Jackie interrupted. She glanced up at Steven. "Won't you be late for curfew?"

"I sleep in the basement, they'll never know if I come in a few minutes late." Steven replied, pressing his hands into his jacket's pockets.

The boys started to talk, bantering back and forth across Jackie. She ignored them, her mind a million miles away. The boys guided her towards Fez's neighborhood, their voices lowering slightly as they glided past dark houses lit by yellow porch lights. Fez turned off up his sidewalk with a wave.

Jackie and Steven continued on in silence. They came to Marie St., the Forman's street, and Jackie paused, hooking a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the Forman's house. "Isn't home that way for you?"

Steven looked towards the Forman's and waved a hand in dismissal. "I'll walk you the rest of the way. Like Fez said, you shouldn't be walking alone."

"I can take care of myself," Jackie said in annoyance, taking off up the street towards her neighborhood, leaving Steven standing at the corner. She heard him mutter under his breath and the heels of his boots strike on the concrete.

"What's the matter with you?" Steven asked, appearing at her side. "You were fine all night till we got back to Point Place."

"I'm just in a bad mood."

"Yeah, that's obvious."

"Steven, I'm not in the mood to play games with you."

"I'm not playing games, I just asked what was wrong." Steven said.

Jackie bit her lip, pushing the strap of her purse up her shoulder once more. "It's just, seeing Michael and Laurie together, it's upsetting."

Steven was quiet. Jackie looked sidelong up at his face, trying to make out his expression. But his aviators blocked his eyes and Jackie could only see how his jaw clenched, the muscle flexing under his smooth skin.

"It's not that I care about Michael, it's just, it's Laurie. She's a gross little skank and a home wrecker." Jackie continued. "I hate seeing them together, seeing Laurie all over him, pretending to have feelings for him, and Michael's so stupid, he doesn't get that she's just using him for his body. What if he gets her pregnant? What if she gives him VD?"

"Well-"

"What if he's given _me_ VD?" Jackie continued, as if Steven hadn't spoken. "I trusted him, and he broke my heart."

"Well," Steven started again, his voice slightly raised. "I don't think that's a good reason to let them ruin the whole night. Yeah, Kelso is a cheater and he hurt you, but you just gotta let it go, man, move on. It's not worth it."

"I know that, Steven," Jackie said, her eyes rolling of their own accord. "You don't understand, you've never had someone break your heart."

Steven scoffed. "Maybe not in the same way."

"What do you mean?" Jackie's voice was laced with confusion. "You've never even had a girlfriend!"

"I have to," Steven countered, his voice laced with indignation.

"Who?" Jackie felt jealousy blossom in her chest, taking over the anger she had felt about Michael. "You never brought her to the basement."

"No, I didn't bring her to the basement," Steven agreed. "She wasn't that important, not for everyone to meet, at least."

"So a girl, who wasn't that important to you, broke your heart?"

"No, Jackie, she didn't break my heart," Steven was growing annoyed. He looked around them, and Jackie had a brief thought that he was going to abandon her here, halfway to her house. And suddenly, the night felt oppressive, closing in on all sides, and Jackie stepped closer to Steven on the sidewalk. He growled under his breath and bit out, "It doesn't matter who broke my heart, alls I meant was that I know how you feel."

Jackie was silent, letting it soak in. Steven never seemed fazed by anything. But maybe that was his Zen, covering up his true feelings, masking his pain. Jackie pressed a hand to her heart. His poor orphan soul was keeping him from opening up, from spilling his heart. She'd just have to work it out of him.

They walked the rest of the way in silence to Jackie's house, stopping together before the closed gate. The house was dark, the porch light was off, and Jackie looked up at the house with trepidation. Her father had gone on a business trip, and her mother had a realtor's convention in Milwaukee and wouldn't be back till the end of the weekend. Jackie had sent the new maid home early tonight, not thinking about what it would be like to come home to an empty, dark house all by herself.

"I'll see you later, Jackie," Steven said under his breath, backing away from her down the sidewalk.

"Steven?" Jackie said quickly.

He turned, waiting.

Jackie bit her lip. "I have a favor to ask of you. You can say no, if you want."

"What, Jackie?" Steven's voice was flat, without emotion.

"It's just, no one's home."

Steven's shoulders rose in tension. He glanced up at the house and then back to Jackie. "Ok?"

"Would you come inside with me? Make sure there isn't any creepy guys hanging out waiting to murder me?" Jackie asked, her voice catching in her throat. Half-moons appeared on the palms of her hands, and she spread her fingers, swiped them on her thighs, rubbing away the sting.

"Yeah, alright," Steven mumbled, looking down at the pavement. "But then I gotta head out, I don't want to get Red on my case."

"Yeah, alright," Jackie repeated. She swung open the gate, the iron screeching as it scraped together. The gravel crunched under both of their feet as they made their way up the drive towards the expansive, columned porch.

Jackie slid her key in the lock, taking a steadying breath as she opened the front door. Steven followed her inside, somewhat nervously. Jackie flipped on the light switch, throwing the room into review. He stood awkwardly in the foyer, his eyes sweeping over the carpet and antique furniture set artistically around the entryway. Steven picked up a small milkmaid figurine, his eyebrow lifting as he set it back down.

"So, where do you want me to look?" Steven mumbled, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets.

"I guess we'll start with the downstairs." Jackie replied, setting her purse and keys on a rounded table set in the center of the foyer.

They walked off down the hall towards the double doors of the living room. Steven slid past her, into the room, walking the perimeter and checking the French doors leading to the patio. He nodded his head, moving past her back out into the hall.

Steven seemed eager to be done with it, pushing into each room and performing a perfunctory search. He tested the back door in the kitchen and checked that the windows were locked in the dining room, his eyes lingering on the cabinet filled with Jackie's parent's wedding crystal. He swept past the powder room and into her father's study, fingering the crystal decanters of whisky and sweeping the curtains aside to test the windows.

They reached the foyer again, and Steven stepped towards the front door. "Jackie, I really don't think anyone else is here."

"Is that it?" Jackie demanded, hands on her hips. Her eyes eyed the dark stairwell leading to the second story; it's darkness taunting her. "You're just going to leave me here? And how will you feel when there turns out to be a masked stranger under my bed who rapes and murders me?"

Steven was silent, his mouth in a hard line.

"Dammit!" Steven took off up the stairs. Jackie smirked, following him up the staircase.

Doors opened and closed with more roughness than was necessary as Steven moved from room to room. He opened the door to Jackie's pink bedroom, poked his head inside and then closed the door again. Jackie watched him from the top of the stairs, her hand gripping the banister firmly in her fingers. A part of her felt like laughing watching Steven move about her house like some kind of criminal. The other part of her felt like crying, exhausted from the emotions of the whole evening.

"You're good," Steven muttered, shouldering past Jackie and hurrying down the stairs. "Now, I'm outta here."

"Wait! Steven!" Jackie cried, stampeding down the stairs after him. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Jackie, no, whatever it is, no," Steven had reached the door, opening it to let in the cool night air. "I'm already going to have Red up my ass for being this late for curfew."

"Well, maybe I can call you tomorrow? I was thinking we could go out, like to a movie, maybe to get something to eat tomorrow night," Jackie followed Steven as he walked out onto the dark porch, stopping at the heavy wooden door. She gripped the side of the door and the jamb in her hands, watching the light from the foyer light up Steven's sunglasses.

"Like a date?" Steven was gazing at her like she was a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his boots.

"Well, yeah," Jackie smiled, her heart rising in her chest.

"No, Jackie, I don't think so."

"What?" Jackie's eyebrow drew together on her forehead. "Why not?"

"Because, Jackie, we don't go together. I don't like you that way, there's no chance of us ever dating. Give it up!" Steven turned down the steps.

"So I do have a chance!" Jackie called after him.

"Whatever, Jackie," was Steven's response as he hurried down the graveled drive. Jackie watched as he slipped out the gate, closing and locking it behind him, before she closed the door, locking it against the night, wishing he had stayed to keep her company in her big, empty house.

-x-

Monday, September 5th, 1977

Veteran's Day

Point Place High School had released their students for a half-day, just in time to watch the Veteran's Day parade downtown. Jackie and Donna were standing at the corner of Franklin and Green Bay, propped up against a concrete planter against the side of The Hub, as a troupe of old men in glossy uniforms marched out of sync down the pavement before them. The marching band was playing Anchors Aweigh, and Donna pointed out Mr. Forman, belting the words, knocking his elbow into the man next to him for not singing, as the procession turned onto Franklin and headed towards the town hall.

"Come on, let's head back to Eric's," Donna said, as the girls came down from their laughter. The crowd was dispersing, gathering up lawn chairs and coolers. Point Place had an annual Veteran's Day fireworks show in the park by Mount Hump, and many families got there early for the best spots, roasting hot dogs and drinking beer from sweating cans.

"So my dad is having this BBQ and I don't get it, like the Forman's throw a party every year," Donna said as they merged into the crowd, pushing against traffic towards the Forman's neighborhood.

"Two BBQ's, twice the fun!" Jackie said as the buildings spaced and they entered the neighborhood. "Plus, more opportunities to snake some beer."

"Beer?" Donna sputtered, turning her head to stare openly at Jackie. "You don't drink beer! You said it'll make you all fat and gross."

Jackie paused, thinking of Steven. He drank beer all the time it seemed, and he never got fat. Plus, she wanted to prove to him that she could be fun too, someone he would enjoy hanging out with. Like with the concert, and getting high, she wanted to prove to him she could enjoy the same things he did. "Well, yeah, but it's a BBQ, isn't it like the American Dream? To get drunk around a grill?"

Donna snorted. "Yeah, that's true."

"Plus, one time won't hurt. It may even help make dreams come true!"

"Dreams? What dreams? It's Veteran's Day, not Christmas."

"Veteran's Day is a holiday, and it is known, that on every holiday, God grants three wishes for you."

"What are your three wishes?" Donna asked as they neared the Forman's house.

"Oh, I can't tell you, Donna," Jackie said as they walked up the drive. "Then they won't come true. Duh."

"Right," Donna said, laughing. They skipped down the exterior steps into the basement.

Jackie took a seat in Steven's vacant chair, grabbing a Magic 8-Ball from the spool table. Pressing the toy to her lips she whispered, "Will Steven and I ever be together?" She shook the black ball, chanting in her head _PleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyes._ The little white triangle stopped on one sharp side, not giving her a response. Jackie pursed her lips and shook the ball roughly between her hands. She held her breath, thinking of her next question. Michael was poking the end of a pencil into the back of a video game, and she pressed the ball to her mouth again. "Will I ever forgive Michael?" She turned the 8-ball over. _You May Rely On It._ She shuddered and shook the ball, barely holding on when it nearly slipped through her fingers. Pressing her mouth against the ball, leaving behind a film of strawberry gloss she whispered, "Will Steven ever love me?" Flipping over the 8-Ball, she watched with bated breath as the white triangle floated through the blue meniscus, pushing its way up to the surface and pressing its face against the glass. _Better Not Tell You Now._

The basement door swung open and Fez and Steven swept into the room. Steven avoided looking at Jackie, stalking behind the couch over to the deep freeze. Ever since Friday, when she had asked him on a date, he had avoided her. Been perhaps more rude to her, ignoring her when she asked a question, telling her to Get Bent whenever she asked him to pass something. It was as if all the progress they had made, him teaching her Zen, him including her in their last concert, had all dispersed into the air and all that was left was the Steven she had only known when she was younger. Not Steven, but _Hyde_.

Jackie set the 8-Ball on the spool table and flounced over to Steven, ignoring the way he sighed in irritation and turned his head away from her. She placed her hands on his thighs, gripping at his jeans. This was it; this was going to be the day. His orphan soul would admit it's undying love for her. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"So, Steven, isn't Veteran's Day romantic?"

"Oh, yeah, government pawns and missing limbs. That's amore."

"I know, I know! It's a day for people in love to have fun together!"

Jackie turned, distracted as Michael and Eric spoke, both dropping what they were doing to race out of the basement, and up the stairs. She turned back to Steven, shifting her weight. "So, Steven. Would you like to go to Mr. Forman's barbeque with me?"

"No, as a matter of fact," Steven turned to her, glowering at her. "I don't want to go anywhere with you."

Undeterred, Jackie slid onto the deep freeze beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "No, that's ok. We can stay in."

Hyde pushed her arm from his shoulder sliding off the deep freeze. "No, Jackie! Look, I've told you. I have no interest in you and you don't stand a chance. And yet, you keep thinking I have interest in you and that you have a chance."

Hope blossomed. "Wait!" Jackie slid off the deep freeze, grasping Steven's forearm. "Did you just say you're interested in me and that I have a chance?"

"Ok, you know what, you forced me to do this." Steven pulled away and wiped at the corners of his mouth. "I'm gonna explain my feelings to you through a highly disciplined form of Japanese poetry: Haiku. 'My heart aches with pain.'"

Jackie smiled, swaying from side to side on the balls of her feet.

"'When I see you I vomit.'"

The smile slid from Jackie's face and she glanced to Donna in horror.

Steven made eye contact with her, all hard lines and planes. She could see his eyes through the tint of his glasses and she shuddered. "'Die away from me.'"

Steven left, practically running for his bedroom at the back of the basement. Donna was sitting, her eyes staring down at the magazine in her hands unseeing. Her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter and it was only after the sound of Steven's door slamming shut echoed through the basement that she looked up at Jackie, full of mirth. "Ouch!"

-x-

Jackie's blood was boiling.

How dare he. How dare Steven Hyde embarrass her like that, in front of Donna no less. She'd never hear the end of it now.

Jackie stalked away from the Forman's towards her own house, cutting through the Forman's garage to the back alley and down to the next street. She was so caught up in her own thoughts, she almost didn't notice a group of her classmates on the sidewalk before her till she was nearly on top of them.

"Hey, Burkhart!" Kat Peterson said, smiling at her. She had her arm slung around Billy Slough's waist. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, just had to head home before the big barbeque, party, this afternoon."

Kat nodded her head appreciatively. "Nice! Well, hey, a few of us will be up around Mount Hump later for the fireworks if you want to come with."

"We'll see," Jackie smirked, edging her way around the group. She had taken a few steps away from them when she heard her name called again. She spun on her heel, staring up at Chip Krause's face. "Hey Chip."

"Hey, I was just wondering, maybe we could settle on that date we've been talking about?" Chip hooked his thumbs on his hips, smiling down on Jackie.

Chip had been after her for a while, even while she was dating Michael, waiting in the wings for an opportunity. And Jackie had always turned him down, said no. But now she couldn't think of why. Chip was decent looking, he had a nice body and he had a car. He was a part of the football team and hung out with the popular kids. He was the perfect candidate to make Steven jealous.

"Well, you know, about that," Jackie started, putting her best smile towards him. "Maybe you could come to the barbeque with me, then if things go well there, you can take me out afterwards."

"A barbeque?" Chip asked. "Whose barbeque?"

"Eric," Jackie said. "Eric Forman."

"Forman?" Chip didn't look all that impressed, but he nodded his head anyway. "Yeah, I guess. When is this thing?"

"It's at five. I'll meet you in the alley behind the Henderson's. You know it?"

Chip took a step closer to her. "Oh, yeah, I know it."

"Good. See you then."

Jackie spun around, leaving Chip standing on the sidewalk by himself.

-x-

"There you are, thought you weren't going to show," Chip said, failing to mask his relief as Jackie appeared before him.

"What?" Jackie looked down at her wristwatch. "It's only 5:36."

Chip chuckled. "Yeah, you said five."

"Oh," Jackie brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Yeah. You ready?"

Chip tried to take her hand, but Jackie sidestepped him, rushing through the open back garage door instead. Chip followed, hot on her heels as Jackie plowed her way through the garage towards the gang of boys gathered on the driveway, her eyes set on Steven. She slowed once they were a few feet away, letting Chip come to her side. He wrapped an arm possessively about her shoulders.

"Hey everybody!" Jackie called, her eyes lingering on Steven before looking to Fez and Michael. "This is Chip, he's been after me for a while now, so I just said, what the heck? Chip, this is everybody."

Steven wandered off to the side porch, taking a seat by the sliding glass doors.

"Hey, everybody," Chip squeezed her shoulder, his arm dropping from her body and hand grazing her back. "Hey, Jackie, I'll get you something to drink."

"Whatever." Jackie twirled away, on the tip of her toe, stepping towards Steven. He was rocking in the chair, his face Zen, but his body held straight with tension.

"So, you're with this Chip guy now?" Steven had a smirk on his face and Jackie felt herself feed off of it. She smirked back and teasingly asked him, "Why, do you care?"

Steven shifted his weight, an eyebrow rising on his forehead. "No, I mean, if want to date this guy, that's…. _cool_."

Jackie flung her purse in the empty chair beside Steven, feeling lighter than air. "It is?!"

-x-

Jackie floated through the barbeque as one who had been recently proposed to. Steven had feelings for her. He had practically told her in his response to her bringing Chip as her date. And now, all she had to do was wait. Continue to make him jealous by keeping close to Chip, showing Steven that she had all the potential to be a good girlfriend to him, by showing him she could be a good date to Chip, a guy she didn't really even care for.

She was eager to get Chip new drinks, hardly arguing when he asked, jumping up out of her seat, and looking back to make sure Steven was watching, had seen.

 _Yes, I am good, Steven, look how good you could have it._

Steven was quiet, keeping closer to her than he had over the past couple of days, but he didn't speak to her, choosing instead to question Chip, or bring Kelso over so they could subtly tag-burn Chip, the latter having no clue as to what was happening to him. But Jackie didn't care. She plied Chip with beers, chewed on a hotdog and had a few beers herself, savoring in the feel of the alcohol in her bloodstream. Perhaps this is why Pam was always drinking. It did feel good.

It wasn't until Steven laid Chip out, one solid punch to the jaw that she had forced him to acknowledge her, grasping his arm and reading between the lines of what he said. Or didn't say. And when Steven had stalked away, into the kitchen, she had sat at the table, chin cradled in the palm of her hand, flanked by Fez and Michael as Chip stirred on the ground, the three onlookers never moving to help.

"You're all a bunch of freaks," Chip spat, holding his chin as blood dribbled from his mouth.

"Bye!" Michael called, waving as Chip stumbled down the drive.

"Come back again soon!" Fez cooed sarcastically.

"Get bent!" Chip yelled from the sidewalk, drawing the attention of some of the other barbeque guests.

Jackie sighed, her elbow digging into the hard surface of the condiment table, a pout on her mouth. Steven had been so wishy-washy. He had confessed his feelings, and shoved her away. She had chased after him, and he had pushed her away. Steven Hyde was confusing as hell, Jackie decided. Maybe she really didn't have a chance. Maybe she had read him wrong all this time. She had been so sure, so positive of the signals Steven had given her. So sure of his feelings towards her. Maybe her powers of love had gone rusty with disuse. Jackie snorted. Yeah, right, she was the Queen of Love.

"Jackie." Steven reappeared, clomping out of the kitchen. Jackie started, surprised. "Get your car, we're going on a freaking date."

"It's a Veteran's Day miracle!" Jackie cried, ecstatic.

-x-

Steven slid behind the wheel of the Lincoln, steering them into town. Dusk was falling, and Jackie held her breath, waiting, as Steven took a right, and then a left, stopping before Alfredo's Pizza Café. "Wait here," He grumbled, exiting the car. He left the key in the ignition and shuffled into the restaurant, emerging ten minutes later with a pizza box in one hand and a pop in the other.

"Here," Steven handed Jackie the pizza and slid back behind the wheel, snapping the door closed behind him.

"Where are we going?" Jackie asked, the heat of the pizza warming her thighs.

"Not far," Steve responded, driving towards the edge of town.

Jackie bit her tongue, reaching forward to pop a tape into the deck.

The tape picked up in the middle of Lyin' Eyes and Steven reached forward, pressing the eject button. "You got anything else?"

He slid the cassette into his pocket as Jackie reached forward to the glove compartment. She searched through the selection and pulled out The Bee Gee's.

"No."

"Elton John?"

"No."

"I have ABBA?"

"Kill me now, slowly with a spoon."

"Well, what about Peter Frampton?"

"Is that the best you've got?" Steven reached for the cassette, sliding into the tape deck and adjusting the volume. "We're really going to have to work on your taste in music."

"What's wrong with my taste in music?" Jackie asked, sliding the pizza pie into the middle of the bench seat.

"Quite plainly, it sucks," Steven announced.

He turned the Lincoln into the entrance for Point Place Park, idling past rows of parked cars and slowing as families darted in front of them towards the expanse of field sectioned off for the fireworks show. Jackie slid to the edge of her seat, biting her tongue as Steven drove them past, angling the car up towards Mount Hump. She felt like a child, unable to contain her excitement. The usually open field was crowded with lawn chairs and blankets. Children ran to and fro, weaving amongst adults, their shrill shrieks of laughter reaching Jackie and Steven in the Lincoln over the music. She felt a grin threaten to overtake her and she kept glancing at Steven's face in the rearview mirror, hoping he wouldn't see.

They neared Mount Hump. Jackie's heart was pounding like a jackhammer in her chest. This was where people went to make-out. Where couples went to Do It and smoke pot. They drove past a row of parked cars, and Steven turned the car to the next turnoff, taking them higher and higher. They soon had passed the last row of vehicles and Jackie felt her heart flutter in tense anticipation. She felt like she was panting, and she worked to control herself.

Jackie watched out the side window, at the rows of dark trees, rocking forward when Steven stopped the car jerkily, parked at the edge of a copse, at The Overlook. Jackie beamed with happiness. The Overlook was a prime make-out space. There was only one reason Steven would bring her here.

Steven grabbed the pizza and his drink, setting them on the hood of the Lincoln and then came back, turning up the volume on the radio. Jackie stepped from the car, leaving her door open and came to meet Steven at the hood. She pushed herself onto the car, swinging her legs back and forth, smiling when Steven sat next to her, his warm arm pressed against her own.

"Here," Steven held the pizza box out to Jackie. She took a slice, holding it in both hands so the grease wouldn't drip on her clothing. They grew silent, eating their portions. Steven sipped at his pop and gestured out to the open air before them. "Fireworks should be starting soon."

"Yes," Jackie agreed, taking a dainty bite of pizza, the way her mother had always said was proper. A lady didn't inhale her food. A girl was supposed to take a few bites so as to be polite and then claim to be full. Jackie polished off her first slice and then reached for a second. Her mother wasn't here to judge. Besides, Jackie had a feeling Steven wouldn't be impressed with her lack of appetite.

Steven stuffed the pizza in his mouth, smacking his jaws around each bite, intermittently sipping from his pop. He held the beverage out to Jackie, almost as a second thought, his eyes downcast. Jackie took the cup, wrapping her lips around the straw still damp with Steven's saliva.

The sky burst in brilliant stars of color, red, white, blue, green, and Steven and Jackie watched each burst in silence, chewing bites of pizza and sharing Steven's pop. Peter Frampton ended and Steven slid from the hood of the car, tuning the radio to the clearest rock station. Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Zeppelin, a collection of English rockers, filled the air as the fireworks burst. Jackie could imagine the onlookers, hundreds of feet below them cheering, oohing and aahing after each launch. She felt much the same. The hood of the Lincoln was warm from the engine under her butt and Jackie shifted her weight.

An involuntary shiver ran down Jackie's spine and she shuddered, catching Steven's attention. He slipped his jacket from his shoulders and draped it around her own, quickly turning back to the show before them. Jackie slipped her arms into the sleeves of the jacket, pressing her nose to the fabric and taking a deep inhale. Sweet like tobacco and weed, and a scent all man, entirely Steven.

"Did you just smell my jacket?" Steven asked, looking sideways at Jackie. He smirked down at her his eyes alight with mischief. "You totally just smelt my jacket."

"No, I didn't," Jackie argued, her voice hinting at petulance. "I thought I smelt something weird when you put it around my shoulders, is all."

Steven shook his head slowly, shifting on the hood of the car. "You weirdo."

Jackie turned away, embarrassed.

Steven knocked his shoulder against Jackie's, drawing her out of herself. He was smiling at her, a genuine smile, and Jackie felt herself smile in return. She sidled closer to him, reaching out and draping his arm across her shoulders. They remained in silence for some time more, Jackie chewing on her lower lip.

"So, our first date's almost over," Jackie observed, as the last glittering firework faded in the night sky.

"Yep," Steven agreed, letting his arm fall from her shoulders.

Jackie chewed on her lip. She felt nervous, knowing what had to be coming next. "So, what'd you think?"

"It was no worse than bowling."

"What?" Jackie glared at him. What kind of shit answer was that? The evening had filled her body with fireworks, much like the ones they had spent the better part of their date watching. And Steven had compared it to _bowling_.

"I don't hate bowling." Steven clarified, turning to meet her eye.

Jackie felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. She knew the evening had been a success. They stared at one another, Steven's eyes just barely visible behind his shades, and Jackie leaned forward slowly, waiting to be rejected by him once more. But Steven leaned closer to her, their arms pressed together. Her heart pounded in her chest furiously, and Steven bent his head, angling his mouth to meet her kiss.

Steven's mouth was soft on her own, assessing their kiss. Jackie felt his warm breath on her cheek, her body on fire where it was pressed against his, and Jackie sighed, her body feeling tight, ready for flight. It was an uncomfortable feeling, a new feeling, one that she had never expected to experience, maybe ever. Thought fled her brain, replaced by firecrackers. This was what was written in love stories. Like Helen of Troy and Paris. Or Romeo and Juliet. Steven paused, not quite pulling away, and Jackie pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek, drawing him back in. She widened her jaw, allowing him better access, nearly moaning at the feel of his slick tongue against her own. She could've sworn she heard Steven's breath catch in his throat, and she pulled away, ending their kiss as a flood of emotions overwhelmed her. She licked her lips, tasting him on her skin.

Steven had ignited inside of her a lust that she had never felt with Michael, or any one else for that matter. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she licked her lips once more, trying to assess what it was she had felt. Steven was still pressed to her side, his warmth soothing her. He had pressed his fingers to his lips, shifting his weight, and Jackie turned back to look at him, her eyes roaming over every inch of his face.

She reached tentatively towards him again, tracing the tips of her fingers down the length of one sideburn and moved in to kiss him again when Steven turned to meet her gaze. They pushed intimately into each other's mouths, Jackie's hands cradling Steven's head. She felt like she was floating on air, higher than she had ever felt in her entire life, and she didn't resist when Steven pushed her down on the hood of the Lincoln, sighing as he lay down next to her, their kisses insistent against the other's mouths. The world had fallen away, and all there was left was Steven, the weight of his body the only thing keeping her from falling from the Earth. His knee slid between her legs, and Jackie's hips rose to meet him, her fingers tangled in his hair.

A wanton moan escaped Jackie's mouth and she pulled away, embarrassed. Her lips felt swollen, and she massaged them together.

"What's the matter?" Steven peered down at her, his right hand wrapped about her middle. His splayed fingers kept her close to him, his thumb rubbing back and forth, just under her rib cage. "Too fast?"

"I don't know," Jackie responded quietly, her hands gripping his arms. She felt like she could strip all her clothes from her body and let him take her right now. Her heart felt ready to explode in her chest; she was certain Steven could hear it hammering against her ribs.

Steven sat up, pulling Jackie up next to him. He wiped at the corners of his mouth, quiet as Jackie had an internal struggle with her emotions.

With Michael, it had always been something that hadn't required much thought. Michael had slobbered all over her face, pressured her into sex, and then was always done before Jackie was ready to come. She would think about the latest Cosmo, or the next test she needed to study for, and then feel guilty that Michael wasn't at the forefront of her brain, like he should've been. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, got upset when he didn't prove his love to her, and was always left her at the gate whenever Michael had dropped her off after a date.

But Steven… Steven made sure she was safe.

Jackie looked over at him, studying his profile. With Steven, he ignited something in her she wasn't sure she could handle. Kissing him was like reuniting with a lover she had known for years, exciting and, yet, impossibly new. His lips melded to her own like they had been carved specifically for her. His hands fit perfectly on her body. The feelings she had for Steven she thought had been equivalent to the feelings she had had for Michael. But this kiss had shown her they were so much more than the feelings she had for her ex-boyfriend.

And if what she felt for Steven trumped what she felt for Michael, maybe she hadn't truly loved Michael at all. And that scared her. How was she to know what love really was, if all she had to compare it to were Michael and her parents?

Steven peered down at his watch, and slid off the hood of the Lincoln. "Come on, Jackie, I gotta get you home before curfew."

Jackie slid off the hood, quiet. She grabbed the pop and Steven grabbed the pizza box, placing it between them on the bench seat. She found herself staring at him as he drove them down Mount Hump, analyzing everything that had transpired between them. Steven had been quiet, quieter than her, but then again, Steven was usually quiet around her, unless it was to tease her. Jackie couldn't tell if he had liked the kiss because he liked her, or liked the kiss because he was a man, and wanted to sleep with her. The way he had pressed his mouth to hers was different than Michael, sure, but then again, Steven had technique whereas Michael didn't.

"So, Steven." Jackie burst out, unable to keep silent as they neared the entrance to the park. She sat facing him in her seat.

Steven glanced at her, getting into line behind a row of vehicles leaving the park. "What Jackie?"

"That kiss…" Jackie trailed off, her gaze swinging around to stare at the tail of the car in front of them. She chewed on her lip, imagining his mouth pressed against hers once more. Shyly, she looked back at him. "Well, I don't know what to think."

"Was it that bad?" Steven asked, his face blank. Zen.

"No, that's not it," Jackie quickly responded, reaching forward and placing her hand on his arm. His jacket was still around her body, and she felt trapped in his scent. It was comforting and set her edge all at the same time. "The kiss was hot, I just… Well. What I want to know is what happens now?"

"What happens now?" Steven repeated, pulling out of the park and onto Green Bay Road. He was silent for a bit, staring ahead up the dark road, braking when the car in front of him braked at a traffic light. "What do you think is going to happen next?"

"I'm not sure what I think." Jackie responded, sinking down into the passenger's seat. "Tonight has been amazing, and it's just, it's so confusing, Steven."

"What's confusing about it?" Steven asked, signaling to turn into Jackie's neighborhood. His voice was soft, impossible to read, and Jackie tried to read his body language. He was relaxed, right wrist slung over the top of the steering wheel, left elbow propped on the door handle, but he kept his eyes everywhere except on her.

Jackie was quiet as they coasted down the street. Steven signaled to turn into her neighborhood the click, clack, click, clack of the turn signal filling the cabin. "I don't think I've ever felt like this about a kiss."

Steven gave her a smug look. "Better than Kelso, then, huh?"

Jackie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, yes, but that's not the point, Steven. I have a lot to think about."

Steven pulled up to the open gate before her house, turning the car up the graveled drive. He put the car in park before the closed garage doors, leaving the ignition on. Silence spread between them and Jackie picked at her fingers, nervous.

"Look, if you didn't like tonight, than, that's cool," Steven started picking at the leather steering wheel cover. "We'll just go back to being friends, no worries."

Jackie watched his fingers, her heart stalling in her chest. She slid the pizza box onto the floorboard and scooted across the seat so she was pressed against Steven's side. Steven met her gaze, the tint of his sunglasses hiding his eyes from her. She ran the tip of her pointer finger along the line of his jaw. "I don't want to go back to being just friends."

Steven captured her mouth again, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth. They both moaned at the contact, Steven's hands sliding into her hair. He tugged at the soft strands at the nape of her neck and Jackie felt the pull all the way down in her navel. She pulled away, pressing the palm of her hand to his chest. "I just, I think we need to take things slow, Steven."

"Slow?" Steven said the word like it was poisoned. He shook his head, curls bouncing, and pressed the tips of his fingers under his glasses over his eyes. He sighed roughly. "Alright, Jackie. Slow."

"Aw, Steven, really?" Jackie cooed. She held a hand to her heart, waiting till Steven relaxed, dropping his hands back into his lap.

"Sure, whatever," Steven said. He patted her thigh and popped open the driver's door. Jackie turned the ignition off, sliding out of the car after him, leaving the pizza behind on the floorboard.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, alright," Steven said. Jackie slid his jacket from her body and held it out to him. Steven took the denim jacket, hooking it on his pointer finger over his shoulder. Jackie tugged at his t-shirt, stepping coyly closer. She peered up at him through her eyelashes and Steven smirked, exhaling a breath through his nostrils, bending at the waist to press a kiss to her mouth. Jackie melted, grappling on Steven's body for purchase till he wrapped her in his arms. He broke away from her, taking a step away from her. "Get inside. I'll wait till you lock the door."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Jackie repeated, taking a few backwards steps towards the porch.

"Yeah, Jackie," Steven said, the night cocooned around them.

Jackie swept up the porch stairs, not looking back. She unlocked the door and skidded into the foyer, nearly slamming the door behind her. Her lips were still tingling, her tongue had the taste of Steven, and she felt like she was walking on a cloud as she stumbled up the stairs, ignoring the calls of her mother and father in the living room.

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 **A/N: So, this is where things will be different in my story. Cause I honestly do not, for the life of me, understand how Jackie can go from obsessed, to "I didn't feel anything", to so bored the summer Kelso and Donna run away to California to make-out with Hyde if she never really had feelings for him. Plus, I hate the way she runs back to Michael. It all seemed strange, their reunion. It's obvious something is there between her and Hyde, or maybe that's just my Zennie love. Hope y'all enjoy! Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 _It is the springtime of my loving - the second season I am to know,_

 _You are the sunlight in my growing – so little warmth I've felt before,_

 _It isn't hard to feel my glowing – I watched the fire that grew so low._

 _-The Rain Song,_ Led Zeppelin

Tuesday, September 6th, 1977

The hard pavement echoed up through the heels of his boots, into his calves and thighs, and Steven drew hard on the butt of his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of grey smoke through his nostrils. He jogged across Magnolia, onto Marie Street, and flicked ash into the Jones's yard. Their fat tabby cat sashayed out from under the hydrangea bushes circling the porch, meowing lowly at Steven as he hurried past, almost as if to say, _I saw what you did._ Steven flicked more cigarette ash into their yard, for good measure. His eyes stared up ahead at the hedges that separated the Forman's from the Pinciotti's and he drew another puff on the dwindling cigarette. The Forman's was lit up, the driveway flooded with light, and Steven groaned. He checked the leather watch on his wrist, twelve-thirty in the morning. Thirty minutes past curfew. Red must be up, and waiting.

Steven dropped the butt of his cigarette in the gutter in front of the Pinciotti's driveway and shuffled up the Forman's drive. He came to a pause by the side of the Vista Cruiser, resting a hand on the cool hood. Eric had been home for a while, then. A blur of lavender caught his eye and Steven looked up through the glass doors to see Mrs. Forman pacing the length of the kitchen.

Sighing, Steven stepped away from the Cruiser and slid open the door leading into the kitchen. A cloud of hair shielded his vision and a pair of arms wrapped him in a vice grip.

"Oh, Steven!" Kitty cried, swaying their bodies from side to side, her arms pressing the air from his lungs. Her voice sounded thick, and she squeezed his middle tighter. "I was so worried! When Eric came home without you, and said he didn't know where you were!" A trill of nervous laughter escaped her, and Mrs. Forman pulled away, grasping Steven's arms. "Well, I just thought the worst must have happened!"

Red cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself at the breakfast table. A beer was clutched in one hand and he drummed the fingers of his free hand on his pajama-clad thigh. "I thought I made it clear that curfew was to be obeyed?"

"Yes, sir, you did," Steven agreed, shifting on his feet.

"Well?" Red barked. "Any explanation for yourself?"

Steven drew a deep breath. Mrs. Forman pulled away and looked up at his face expectantly. Her hands clutched the other, resting on her chest beneath her chin.

"We're not getting any younger here, Steven," Red brought his beer to his lips. "Spit it out."

"I had to walk Jackie home." Steven muttered, looking down at the linoleum floor. Mrs. Forman looked to Red, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.

"Why didn't Kettlehead see to it that she was home safe?" Red countered.

Steven thought fast. Red and Kitty still weren't aware that Kelso had been screwing their daughter, and Steven wasn't going to be the one to burst that bubble of ignorance. "Kelso was… busy. Besides, Jackie and Kelso aren't together anymore."

"Right," Kitty piped up, gesturing at her husband. "Remember, I told you Red, Steven and Jackie are a couple now."

"We are _not_ a couple."

"How should I remember who is dating who in this group of dumbasses?" Red spun the can of beer on the table. He sighed heavily. "Look, Steven. I expect the rules I place on my kids to be obeyed. By all of my kids. That includes you." He sighed heavily and pushed the empty can of beer across the breakfast table. "You're grounded. Except when you have school or work, I expect to see you here. And don't think I won't know when you're sneaking out." Red stood from the table, his pointer finger aimed at Steven's chest. "I always know."

Red patted Steven's shoulder and stalked out of the kitchen, palming the swinging door leading to the living room. Kitty smiled up at Steven, her clasped hands just below her chin. Her nervous laughter filled the kitchen and she wrapped Steven in a warm hug. "You are such a sweet boy, walking the Burkhart girl home. Tomorrow, I'm going to make you my extra special pancakes for breakfast"

"That's really not necessary, Mrs. Forman," Steven said, gently pulling out of her embrace.

He slid around Mrs. Forman and made for the basement stairs, running down them and across the pitch-black basement into his room. He closed the door and turned around, grasping in the dark for the pull chord. Steven shuffled around the room, feeling like an idiot, hands extended before him a la Frankenstein.

"Where is the fucking chord?" Steven muttered, growing frustrated. His shins connected with the sharp edge of his cot and he cursed loudly, kicking out at the bed and connecting instead with the bedside table. A clatter of objects fell, filling the silence of his room and Steven stood straight, startled when a thin piece of string became entangled in his hair. He swatted at the chord, wrapping it in his fingers and yanked roughly. The bare bulb swung to and fro, almost nauseatingly, lighting first one half of the room and then the other. Steven reached up and steadied the bulb.

Steven kicked off his boots, dropping onto his bed with a groan. His tube of deodorant rolled across the cement floor, stopping at his socked foot and Steven kicked out at it, sending it sailing under the musty green armchair across from him. "Fuck." Steven spat, staring at the dark underbelly of the armchair.

His insides were roiling with tension, had been ever since he had left Jackie at her house. Why had he asked her to go out on a date? What was he supposed to tell Kelso now? _Oh, hey, yeah, you remember Jackie right? The girl you dated for like, what, three years? You constantly cheated on her with every girl and their mom. Yeah, well, guess what, we're kind of dating now. Or at least, I think we are. One can never really tell with her. We made out on the hood of her daddy's Lincoln. I guess you could say it's getting pretty serious._

Right. That was going to fly over pretty well with Kelso.

Here's what would happen. Somehow or other, Kelso would find out that Steven and Jackie were- well were _something_ , and he'd flip out and pull the same tricks he usually did to win Jackie back. And Jackie would skip back to him, all la di da, and Steven would be left in the lurch, looking like a fool. Steven pulled his sunglasses off his face and tossed them onto the bedside table. What a schmuck he'd turned out to be, just like Edna had predicted.

But, man, had kissing Jackie felt nice. More than nice. Good. Fucking great, actually. She was timid, shy, and confident all in one go. And the taste of her mouth… Steven rubbed the heels of his palms over his eyes and stood from the bed, stripping down to his boxers. Yanking the pull chord, the room was doused in darkness and he felt his way back to his cot, slipping under the covers.

The taste of her mouth was better than he ever could have possibly imagined. Like strawberries, or watermelon, sweet and tangy. Their kiss after their Sizzler date had been nothing but a tease compared to what had transpired between them tonight. He could still feel the heat of her body in his hands, the way her hips had risen to meet his when he had laid her down on the hood of the car. The way she had moaned into their kiss. If she hadn't of pulled away from him, who knows where they would have stopped. If they would have stopped.

Steven rolled onto his stomach, clutching his pillow to his chest. His body felt like a tuned guitar, vibrating with an echoed song. He stared unseeing into his dark room, fighting the need to acknowledge that he wished Jackie were here with him. He wanted to feel her body next to his, wrapped up in his arms instead of his pillow. He wanted all of her. After all this time, of watching her, wanting her from afar, he wanted to make her his. He wanted to know what it was that made her tick, what else filled that brain besides unicorns and rainbows. He wanted to make Kelso realize what an idiot he had been to ever let Jackie slip through his fingers. And for her to come to him, Steven The Burnout, would be the ultimate burn.

-x-

Jackie had been avoiding him all day and it was pissing him the fuck off.

For the first time in weeks, she wasn't in the basement when Steven was leaving for school. She wasn't waiting by his locker between any period, and she wasn't at the gang's table at lunch. What was all this about seeing him tomorrow, as if afraid he would run for the hills of Mount Hump, never to be heard from again, when she was the one who had fallen off the face of the planet? Maybe she had reconsidered what she felt for him. Maybe she didn't really care for him after all and just couldn't think of a good way to tell him.

God, he was turning into such a sap. He needed to get into a fight, get himself arrested, something to make him feel better.

Steven found he kept looking for her, staring down the sea of classmates in the hopes of meeting her mismatched eyes staring back at him in the hall between classes. He was spaced out for all of English, and failed a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights, taking the brow beating Mrs. Clarke gave him with a look of indifference. He waited by his locker past the bell in the hopes that Jackie would appear, breathless, to walk with him to the next period. But she was suspiciously absent the whole day. And Steven was done.

The final bell was a release. Steven bolted from Chemistry, leaving beakers full of solutions out on the lab table for his partner to dispose of. He pushed through his classmates; fingers wrapped around his pack of cigarette's in his coat pocket, itching to have the burning smoke fill his lungs.

He squinted as he stepped out into the sunlight and made his way over to the Cruiser to wait for Forman. Pulling the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, he placed the filtered butt between his lips and lit it, drawing hard. He kept an eye out for teachers, and leaned against the side of the Cruiser, crossing his feet at the ankles.

Man, who the fuck did Jackie Burkhart think she was? She was like a poison. She got under your skin, made ya crazy, and then slipped away like smoke.

Steven burned through his first cigarette quickly, and struck up another. He hummed Led Zeppelin, gazing around as his classmates filtered from the building into the parking lot. His stomach felt like it was ready to vault up his esophagus and out his mouth, and he sucked on his cigarette despite the nauseous reaction. His mind wandered and he stared unseeing out over the parking lot.

A small hand wrapped around his bicep, and Jackie appeared, making her grand entrance, sidling around the back of the Cruiser to stand before him. "Hi."

She was dressed in her cheer uniform, and Steven resisted the urge to check out her bare legs. Steven nodded his head in acknowledgement, continuing to smoke aggressively, exhaling a cloud of smoke that lingered around their faces. Jackie waved a hand before her face and shifted her weight from foot to foot. The fingers on his upper arm gripped him slightly before falling down to grasp his wrist. "How was your day?"

"Good," Steven mumbled. He flicked ash at their feet, watching as it rolled onto Jackie's saddle shoes.

"Oh, good," Jackie fliipped her hair over her shoulder and stepped a bit closer to Steven. Her eyes reflected the sunshine back to him and Steven pulled away. Jackie tightened her hold on his wrist and cocked her head, licking her lips. "So, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Here it was. The awkward break-up. What was there to even break-up? They'd shared one kiss and a measly date, better to just bite the bullet and put him out of his misery. Steven cleared his throat, dropping the butt of his cigarette at their feet. "You don't have to say anything, I get it."

Jackie's eyes narrowed in confusion. "You get it?"

"Yeah, it's whatever." Steven moved away from Jackie, spotting Eric and Donna making their way across the parking lot. "I don't need a big ol' speech about how you don't want to date. It's not the end of my world, Doll."

"Steven-" Jackie began, her lips stretched into the beginnings of a smile.

"Hey, guys," Donna said, meeting them at the side of the Cruiser. She opened the passenger door and tossed her backpack onto the floorboard. Jackie released Steven's wrist and stepped away. He noted the distance with some disdain. So she really didn't want to be with him. Donna turned back to the pair, her hands on her hips. "Where were you at lunch today, Jackie?"

"Oh, emergency cheer practice," Jackie supplied, glancing up at Steven and then back at Donna.

"Sounds exciting," Donna said sarcastically, sliding into the front seat. Steven moved around Jackie, popping open the back door.

"All aboard!" Eric called from the driver's seat. Kelso and Fez jogged up the meet them, piling into the back seat with Steven. He pulled the door closed, avoiding looking up at Jackie standing outside.

Donna rolled down her window. "Jackie, you comin'?"

Steven reached under the seat; pulling out a bag of rolled joints he had stashed there this morning. His fingers dipped into the baggie, rolling the joints between his fingers. He felt the burning gaze of Jackie on him, but avoided the temptation to look at her. His emotions were too apparent right now, too readable.

"What? Oh, yeah, give me a second," Jackie said. She took off across the parking lot towards Kat Peterson's car and Steven watched her go, smoothing the rolled edges of paper on his joint absentmindedly. Jackie grabbed her book bag off the hood of Kat's car, pausing to talk with the group of cheerleaders. Eric honked the horn, and Jackie jumped, waving goodbye and rushing back to meet them. She slid into the front passenger's seat next to Donna and slammed the Cruiser's door a bit harder than Eric obviously approved of, given the glare he sent her way and the way he patted the Cruiser's dash, almost lovingly. The car roared to life and Steven lit the joint with his zippo, passing it to Fez with a sigh.

The drive to the Forman's took less than five minutes, just enough time for the gang, minus Eric and Jackie, to smoke through the joint. Eric claimed he couldn't cause he was driving, and Jackie because she had to cheer tomorrow morning for a pep rally.

"Will you show us some of your moves, Jackie?" Fez said, leaning forward in his seat to peer at Jackie up in front. He mimed holding a pair of pom-poms and wiggled his butt. "You should really show your friends your skills."

"Don't be such a perv!" Jackie shoved at his shoulder and Fez fell back into his seat, knocking his shoulder against Kelso's, with an indignant "Ai!"

Eric pulled the Cruiser into the driveway and everyone piled out, Steven stuffing the bag of joints into his coat pocket, following after the others making for the exterior steps to the basement. Jackie made a show of fixing the straps to her backpack, grabbing onto Steven's arm once the others had started their descent. She pulled him back from the stairs and around the side of the garage.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," Jackie panted, dropping her bag at their feet.

Steven crossed his arms, legs apart in a defensive stance he had learned long ago. Zen was his cave and he dipped into that cool, black, safe haven with ease. The weed swirled in his veins and he felt like a rock. Unfortunately, Jackie was the ocean, her waves beating against his hard exterior, wearing him down. "Ok?"

Jackie stepped closer to him, her hands reaching towards his jacket. She gripped the front of the denim, fisting it in her fingers and slid her hands to his crossed arms, working them free of one another. Steven remained stiff, but allowed his arms to fall to his sides. He ignored the swooping sensation that accompanied Jackie's hands as they swept up his chest and cupped his face. Trails of electricity were left on his skin and the feel of her fingers on his face was intoxicating. She was chewing on her lower lip, her eyes darting between his as her fingers scratched at his sideburns.

"I missed you today," Jackie whispered. Her body was mere inches from his, and Steven's arms twitched, as if to wrap her up in them. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his, once, briefly. Steven had barely time to react. Her fingertips traced the shells of his ears. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Steven grumbled, somewhat sarcastically. His mouth felt tingly from their brief contact and it was becoming more difficult to keep a clear head.

Jackie barked a half-laugh, her eyes bright. "Well, I haven't really been around today. Didn't you think I was avoiding you?"

Steven filed that tidbit of information away for later use. Perceptive. A new adjective to add to the growing lists of adjectives that described Jackie.

"Didn't really give it a thought, to be honest," Steven lied. Jackie stepped closer and Steven felt his traitorous hands reach towards her, settling on her hips.

"Whatever, Steven," Jackie replied using his Zen against him, and stepping so close that air could not pass between them. She angled her head, and pressed her mouth to his again, this time coaxing a response from his lips. They stood there for some moments, making out, until a car backfiring on the street broke them apart. Jackie pecked Steven's mouth and drew away. She licked her lips and Steven nearly groaned at the sight. He moved to kiss her again and Jackie pressed the tip of her pointer finger to his lips.

"I have something I've been thinking about that I want to share with you."

"Didn't I already tell you, if you don't want to date me, you don't have to make a big deal out of it," Steven said, shaking off her finger. Jackie felt like heaven in his arms and he tightened his hold on her without realizing he was doing so.

"Why would I make out with you like that, then break-up with you?" Jackie countered, her hands coming to a rest on his shoulders.

Steven shrugged, his arms loosening on her waist. "Ease the blow?"

"That's messed up, Steven," Jackie pressed a palm over his heart.

"Than what, Jackie?" Steven asked.

Jackie's eyes darted over to the side of the house, at the basement stairs hidden by retaining walls and then back to Steven. She seemed nervous and she shifted in his embrace. Her fingers gripped at the denim covering his shoulders. "It's just… Well, I was wondering, how you would feel, if we didn't tell the others about us?"

So this is what it felt like to be sucker-punched, Steven thought. His arms let go of Jackie, thumbs hooking on his belt loops, and he looked up over her head into the yard. She pressed herself to him in response, tucking her head under his chin.

"It's not that I'm embarrassed, Steven, I'm not!" Jackie said, her voice rising a few octaves. She pressed her forehead into his chest and sighed heavily. "I just, I know what they'll say and I don't want to hear it! I want this to be just between us for a while. I want to savor this."

Steven nodded his head. Jackie's reasoning was sound. He knew what they would say too. The burnout and the cheerleader, they just didn't go. Eric hated Jackie. She was vapid and shallow. And Kelso… Kelso would want her back. And Steven wasn't ready to give her back. Not yet. He pressed a kiss to the top of her hair, breathing in the floral scent of her shampoo and said, "Ok."

Jackie pulled away to look into his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah," Steven said, his voice low. "We'll sneak around. It'll be hotter that way."

Jackie grimaced. "I don't want to think of it as sneaking around."

"Well then, what would you prefer to think of it as?"

"That it's a secret romance. Forbidden, like Romeo and Juliet."

Steven was the one to grimace now. "Romeo and Juliet? Can you not compare us to a pair of idiots who killed themselves over something as ridiculous as love?"

Jackie pulled out of his embrace. "'As ridiculous as love'? Love is the only thing that matters Steven!"

"Yeah, yeah," Steven made his way over to the basement steps. "Look, I gotta get ready for my shift at the Fotohut."

"Maybe I could come with you?" Jackie said, scooping up her bag and following him. She paused at the top of the stairs, slinging her bag onto her shoulders.

"Whatever," Steven replied, taking the steps at a jog. He paused halfway down when he realized Jackie wasn't following him. "You comin'?"

"I can't just skip down there with you, and then skip back up with you when it's time to leave without drawing suspicion, Steven." Jackie said, hand on her cocked hip. "D'uh."

"Right," Steven said, continuing his descent. "I'll be right back."

Steven stepped into the basement, and made straight for his bedroom. Hollywood Squares was on, and Fez and Kelso were starting an idle game of Mousetrap, both more focused on the television. Eric and Donna watched him from their perches on the couch, suspicion rolling off them in waves. They shared a look and Donna shrugged her shoulders. Steven heard her say Jackie's name before he vanished into his bedroom. Eric swiveled his upper body around to call after Steven, "Where were you, man?"

Steven grabbed a fresh shirt, pulling the one he had been wearing all day over his head and leaving it crumpled on the floor. He fished the stick of deodorant out from under the armchair and rolled it across his armpits, tossing it onto his bed when he was done. "Some guys stopped by to see if I had any bud." Steven transferred the bag of joints from his jacket to the cigar box under his bed, taking only two from the bag and stashing them in his pocket.

"You shouldn't do that here, man, my parents will flip if they find out you're dealing drugs out of the basement," Eric said as Steven emerged from his bedroom.

"Yeah, I know Forman, which is why I told them to get lost and never come back here again," Steven said, stalking towards the door. "I got a shift at the Fotohut, see you guys later."

"If you find any dirty pictures, bring them back for me!" Fez called.

Kelso shook his head. "Nah, man, you shouldn't be going through people's pictures, it could be embarrassing."

Steven paused at the door. "What have you got to hide, Kelso?"

"Nothing," Michael answered quickly, turning back to his game.

"Uh, huh," Steven said with skepticism.

Jackie was waiting at the end of the drive, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She smiled when Steven neared her and hooked her arm through his, matching his stride as he turned them towards town. At the corner, she released him, crossing her arms again over her chest. "Just in case," Jackie said with a wink and a smile. Steven didn't respond, but crossed ahead in front of her, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. Jackie jogged to catch up to him and started yammering on and on. About cheer practice and her French test. About how Teresa Walker and her new boyfriend Chip had broken up in front of everyone in gym after only two days of dating. How Chip was obviously on the rebound from Jackie rejecting him at the Forman's barbeque.

"Don't you ever think of anything else?" Steven cut in. They were nearing the Fotohut, crossing the Piggly Wiggly's parking lot.

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked, slightly out of breath.

"Gossip is all you care about?" Steven said, squeezing between the bumpers of two parked cars. He turned and waited for Jackie to do the same. She harrumphed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, no, obviously." Jackie peered up at him through her lashes. "I care about other things."

"Like what?" Steven asked, pulling his keys from his pocket. They jingled in his hand and he swung them, round and round his pointer finger.

Jackie was quiet for a moment, looking out over the parking lot. Steven started to walk towards the Fotohut again and Jackie followed close behind. "I like to read."

"What do you like to read?" Steven came to a stop outside the Fotohut's entrance.

"Mysteries." Jackie supplied, crossing her arms tight over her chest. She seemed to be challenging him, her eyes narrowed. Her nose twitched and she added, "Romance."

"Ah, there it is," Steven said, sliding his key into the lock and turning the handle. He opened the door and stepped into the smoke-filled building, searching for and finding Leo on a stool in the corner, hitting a bong. Jackie followed close behind him, her nose turned up in displeasure. She dropped her book bag by the processing counter and went to the service window, pulling it open so that the smoke drifted out like smoke signals.

"Hey, man!" Leo set the bong against his thigh. "You're harshing the hot box, man!"

"You can't even see anything in here!" Jackie argued, waving her arms about. "What if the cops come?"

"Oh, man, are the cops here?" Leo asked alarmed, peering out the window.

"Nah, man, the cops aren't here," Steven said, patting Leo on the shoulder and moving towards Jackie. He slid the window closed, ignoring her indignant "Steven!" and took a seat by the cash box. "Pass it over, man."

"Steven, you're at work," Jackie said, her voice low in her throat, stepping up to him.

"Yeah, your point being?" Steven took the bong from Leo and set it down under the counter, out of sight. Jackie opened her mouth to speak, than snapped it shut again. She peered around at Leo, who had distracted himself and was looking through customer's photos, laughing quietly to himself, and took a seat at the processing counter. Leo set aside a couple photos, and Jackie peered at them, sliding them closer to her. She fanned them out on the counter and Steven angled his head so he could see them as well. A kid whose face was painted like a clown. A woman, on all fours, dressed in a negligée and giving the camera a look she obviously thought was sexy, but Steven thought more made her look constipated.

Jackie sighed and pushed the pictures away back towards Leo. Her eyes swept across the Fotohut, taking in its unorganized shelves and sloppily piled boxes of film. Steven followed her gaze around the small building.

"Shouldn't someone clean this place up?" Jackie asked, looking from Steven to Leo and back. "It looks like a poor person owns this place, it's all messy."

"Hey, man, if you start working, I'm leavin'," Leo said, pushing off the stool. He dropped the pictures onto the counter, where they fanned before Jackie. "Before the boss gets here and makes me help."

"Aren't you the boss Leo?" Jackie said as the old hippy made his way over to the door.

Steven smirked at her when she turned to him.

"Oh, yeah," Leo said, pausing with his hand on the doorknob. He pointed a finger at Jackie. "Get to work! I want this place spotless by the time I get back!"

Jackie scoffed and Steven laughed quietly, shaking his head.

"I don't work here!" Jackie's voice was full of indignation and she sat rigid on her stool.

"Then what are you doing here?" Leo asked, pushing open the door. He disappeared out into the twilight, slamming the door behind him.

Steven propped his feet on the processing counter. Jackie scoffed, shoving the pile of pictures away from her. She slapped an open palm on the counter and said, "I am _not_ cleaning anything!"

"Relax, Jackie, you don't have to clean anything," Steven said. "Leo won't remember this conversation tomorrow anyway."

Jackie sighed, her body relaxing. Her saddle shoes kicked against the side of the counter and she pursed her mouth. Steven imagined reaching out to her and kissing the pout off her lips, but resisted, turning to stare out the window at the emptying parking lot.

"How long is your shift anyway?" Jackie asked after a few moments silence.

"However long I want. Usually only stay a couple hours, then head on back in time to catch the last of dinner," Steven said, waving to a couple in a black pinto as they pulled up to the service window. He propped open the window, the smell of fresh air mingling with marijuana and said, "Name?"

Jackie quickly got bored with watching Steven work and pulled out her homework, spreading her binder and books across the processing counter. Steven found himself watching her between customers; he liked the way she chewed on the eraser of her pencil, and the absentminded scratching at her thigh, pushing her cheer skirt higher up her thigh. She hummed under her breath as she worked, something upbeat and decidedly disco, but Steven didn't mind the sound. At least she wasn't talking, Steven thought as he sorted packages of developed film. Humming he could deal with, he continued thinking, turning up the volume on the radio by the cash box. Humming he could always drown out.

At a quarter to seven, Steven pulled his stool up to the processing counter, closing the textbook closest to him with enough force to startle Jackie from her reverie. She fixed her rounded eyes on Steven, her eyebrows high on her forehead. "What was that for?"

Steven pulled a joint from his pocket, holding it up between them in his fingers. He smiled broadly at Jackie and flicked the flint on his Zippo. "Study break."

"Steven," Jackie said, leaning back on the stool. "I wasn't lying earlier when I said I couldn't smoke. I have a pep rally tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, being the key word here, Jackie," Steven said, lighting the joint. He took a shallow puff and held the smoke. Jackie was gripped the edges of the counter, chewing on her lower lip. Steven exhaled and took another hit, blowing the smoke over his shoulder, away from Jackie's face. "One joint won't kill you."

"I just, I don't think I do it right," Jackie said. She took the joint from Steven's fingers, their skin lingering on one another. "I feel something whenever I do it, but it's not what I expected it to be."

"Sometimes it takes a while," Steven said, his forearms resting on the counter. He flipped the cover of her French textbook open and closed, creating a current of air that buffeted Jackie's hair away from her face. "I didn't get high the first time I smoked."

"You didn't?" Jackie said, the joint nearing her mouth. She paused, looking up at him.

Steven shook his head. "Nope."

Jackie placed the joint between her lips and took a long puff, her chest rising beneath her cheer sweater. Steven reached across the counter and pinched her mouth closed, causing Jackie to exhale roughly out her nostrils. She began to cough harshly, and Steven slid around to her side of the counter.

"Shit, Jackie, I'm sorry, man," Steven said, grasping the joint from her and setting it on the counter. He gripped her wrists and lofted them over her head as tears coursed down her cheeks. "I was trying to get you to hold it in!"

"You could've said something _before_ you manhandled me!" Jackie bit out, glaring up at him through her wet lashes. Steven smiled down at her. "Sorry, doll."

Jackie pulled away from Steven, swiping the pads of her fingers under her eyes. "What did you want me to do?"

"When you take a hit, hold it in." Steven said, leaning against the counter.

"For how long?" Jackie asked looking up at him. She had a track of black mascara under her left eye and Steven reached forward and swiped his thumb across her skin, leaving a trail of black across her cheekbone. He quickly picked up the joint and placed it between his lips, as if he hadn't touched her and made her look like a raccoon.

"For as long as I do." Steven reached for his stool, sliding it across the linoleum and sat close to Jackie. "Ready?"

Jackie nodded, turning on her stool to face him. Her knees were pressed against his thigh, her long, thin fingers splayed across her bare skin. Steven sucked hard on the joint, briefly looking cross-eyed down at the cherried butt. He held onto the smoke, filling his lungs and handed the joint to Jackie. She followed his lead, sucking hard on the joint and pressed her lips together, holding the joint uncertainly in her fingers.

They sat there for what felt like forever, Alice Cooper's _I'm Eighteen_ the only sound between them. Jackie began to bounce in her seat, staring at him with watering eyes. Holding her gaze, Steven felt his heart beating in his ears. Her knees rubbed against him and the denim of his jeans felt like sandpaper on his skin. Steven reached out and placed his hands on her knees, stilling her. He exhaled his smoke, and Jackie did the same, her eyes sparkling in the fluorescent light.

Steven reached out for her and Jackie met him halfway, pressing her mouth to his in a searing kiss. His left hand remained on her bare leg, massaging her thigh and Jackie clambered off her stool, sending it toppling with a clatter, coming to straddle Steven's lap. He moaned into her mouth, burying his hands in her hair. Jackie sighed into his kiss, her lips opening in the perfect moment for Steven to slide his tongue into her mouth, gliding wetly over her own.

"Steven," Jackie moaned, breaking from him momentarily before pressing her mouth to his again. She rocked her hips over his pelvis and pressed her chest to his, her arms vice-like around him.

Never had his name sounded so fucking good, Steven thought, holding Jackie close, as it did coming from her. Her hair was silky in his fingers, and Steven pulled at the fine hairs at the nape of her neck, drawing her chin up and giving him access to her neck. He placed open-mouthed caresses across the column of her throat, focusing on the spot just under her ear when she gasped with pleasure.

The crotch of his jeans had become uncomfortably tight and Steven pulled away, leaving Jackie panting. Her eyes were bright and she clasped her hands behind his head, her thumbs stroking his scalp.

"What's the matter?" Jackie asked breathlessly.

Steven blinked a few times, thankful for his shades hiding his eyes from her at the moment. He shifted his weight under her, trying to alleviate the pressure on his crotch and glanced up at the clock. If they didn't stop now, they weren't going to stop. Steven was already regretting telling Jackie they could take things slow. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly under her sweater and Steven pushed away an image of the sweater on the floor, and her bare chest heaving with passion. He patted the side of her butt and made to gently push her from his lap.

"We gotta stop, Doll," Steven said.

"Why?" Jackie asked, reluctant to leave his lap. Her arms were locked around him and he only succeeded in getting her halfway down his thighs before she leached on. Her head dipped to his neck and her warm mouth caressed his skin. She nipped at his skin playfully. "Am I not a good kisser?"

"You're a fucking excellent kisser," Steven admitted, pulling Jackie close once more. She continued her assault on his neck, her fingernails gently scratching at his scalp. Steven groaned and pulled her face up to his, pressing his mouth to hers. His tongue pushed into her mouth and licked the roof of her mouth. He pulled away, keeping a firm grasp on her cheeks. Her red, puffy eyes gazed dreamily back at him and her swollen mouth begged to be kissed more. "We gotta stop now though. Or else I may not stop at all."

"Oh," Jackie whispered. She rubbed her swollen lips together and extricated herself from his lap, reaching up to smooth her hair.

Steven wiped at the corners of his mouth, and stood, turning his back to her to adjust the crotch of his pants. He looked up at the clock, nearly nine, and said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

He placed the cash box in the safe and propped the warped two by four against the service window, waiting as Jackie, in a haze, gathered her things.

"Are you hungry?" Steven asked as they left the Fotohut, the chilly night air cutting through his thin jacket.

"Yeah," Jackie said, wrapping her arms about her middle. "I'm starving."

Steven wrapped an arm about her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "Come on, let's get a burger."

-x-

The Hub was mostly deserted when they arrived, save for a few tables at the back occupied by their friends. Eric and Donna both shared at look at Steven and Jackie's entrance and Steven inwardly groaned. Just like mom and dad to act suspicious.

"I want a hot dog," Jackie said, trailing behind him to the counter. "And chili cheese fries. And another hot dog."

"Two hot dogs," Steven said to Frank.

"Steven, I said I wanted two hot dogs. What are you going to eat?" Jackie asked, propping herself against the counter.

"One of the hot dogs." Steven responded, pulling a few crumpled bills from his pocket.

"What about my chili cheese fries? And my pop?" Jackie asked, watching Frank take Steven's money, dropping a few pennies into Steven's hand in return.

"You got money?" Steven asked, turning to her as Frank ambled away into the kitchen.

Jackie flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Well, yeah."

"Buy us a pop then," Steven said. "I bought the hot dogs."

"Men are supposed to pay for their girlfriends, Steven."

"Is that what you are?" Steven asked without thinking. "My girlfriend?"

Jackie paused, her mouth slightly open. She seemed to backtrack, her mind working quick, and she waved a hand through the air. Steven thought he saw the glint of unshed tears line her eyes, but Jackie turned away from her before he could be sure. "Whatever. You know what I meant." She slapped a five on the counter and barked at Frank to make her some chili cheese fries, with extra cheese, from his place at the fry grill. He mumbled a "yeah, yeah" in response and Jackie turned quickly away, hurrying off to grab a seat with their friends.

 _Shit_. Steven thought, turning away and watching Frank at the grill. One date and Jackie was already calling herself his girlfriend. Steven didn't do labels. He'd had one girlfriend, Esther, and look how well that had turned out for him. She'd ended up running off with his Uncle Dave, fifteen years older than herself and a bona fide Dead Head. Last Steven had heard, they were both out in Colorado, living in the back of his van, and following the band on their latest tour across the West.

But Jackie calling herself his girlfriend… That could only ever also backfire in his face. Eventually, she'd realize he wasn't boyfriend material, like Esther had. She'd realize he didn't like paying for shit, didn't squander it on shopping. Steven left most of his money to the Forman's as rent, payment for taking him in and feeding him, keeping a little aside for himself. He didn't need much anyway. Enough for some bud and beers, and maybe a little left over to snag something from The Hub every once in a while, and he was good. Plus, didn't boyfriends share their feelings and all that yuppie crap? Yeah, he didn't do any of that, either.

If Jackie thought he was going to start paying for all her shit or acting like her boyfriend, she had another thing coming. Hot make-out sessions were one thing.

Frank tossed the basket of hot dogs onto the counter and shuffled away again, back to the grill. Steven mumbled a "thanks" and headed off to the back corner booth. He stared at Jackie as he neared the table, gripping the red plastic basket tightly in his hands. She ignored his advance, smiling and laughing loudly, ignoring the looks exchanged between their friends at her odd behavior.

Jackie had sequestered herself between Donna and Michael, which was fine by Steven. He didn't want to sit next to her anyway. She was deep in conversation with Donna, twirling a lock of hair around her middle finger, conspicuously aimed in Steven's direction. Or maybe he was just seeing it that way. Whatever the cause, he took it as a personal affront and scarfed down both hot dogs, out of spite. He'd paid for them anyway, not her.

But Jackie didn't rise to the bait. She pranced over to the counter when Frank called her order ready and offered a share of her chili cheese fries with everyone except Steven. She even let Michael wrap his arm across the back of her chair, and didn't outwardly flinch when Michael's fingers began to stroke her arm, much to Steven's chagrin.

Eric watched the two of them critically, and when Jackie dragged Donna into the bathroom, he pounced. "So, Hyde man, why were you and Jackie together?"

"You are Jackie are together?" Michael asked, his voice indignant. "You guys can't be together."

"Calm down, Michelle, we're not together," Steven said, noting the hint of petulance in his voice. He cleared his throat and reached across the table for the last of Jackie's fries.

"You'd better not be," Michael said, picking at something between his teeth. "She's my reserve."

"Reserve?" Hyde asked, feeling anger mix in with the jealousy boiling in his veins.

Michael slouched further in his chair, knees spread far apart. "Yeah, man. When I've gone through all the good-looking chicks here in Point Place, I'll have to come back to Jackie. Cause I mean, I love her, deep down, and she loves me, and even though we're broken up, it's not forever."

Kelso looked around the table at the three incredulous faces of his friends. "I mean, it's never forever with us, is it. Jackie gets it."

"Well, that still doesn't explain why Hyde was with Jackie…" Eric said, giving Kelso an odd look Steven couldn't decipher. "Were you two hanging out?"

"No, I was at work," Steven said, pushing the empty fry basket away. "She was on her way here when I was on my way here so we walked together."

"Uh huh," Eric said, clearly not convinced. But he kept quiet, as the girls emerged from the bathroom. Jackie's eyes were red and Donna was scowling at the table, interminably sending a glare in Hyde's direction. Eric rubbed between Donna's shoulder blades when she dropped into the chair beside him, making soothing circles. "What's the matter mi'lady?"

Donna shook her head, her eyes darting up to meet Steven's. He stared back impassively, his arm draped across the empty seat next to him.

"Are you guys ready?" Eric said, pushing away from the table. "The mood here has just- changed. It feels weird."

"You're such a girl, Forman," Steven said, also standing. He trailed with the rest of the group out towards the Cruiser, surprised when Jackie insisted she have a seat in the back. She settled in, between Steven and Kelso, her arm pressed against Steven's. He leaned against the door, away from her, too pissed at her immaturity to pretend.

Eric dropped off Fez first, honking the horn obnoxiously when Fez made it up to the front door of his host parent's house. They pulled away, tires squealing only once Mr. Fettering emerged on the porch, hands on his hips.

Kelso yawned broadly, slipping his arm around Jackie's shoulders, pulling her close to his side. She looked sidelong at Steven, her face unreadable, but he didn't look her way. Jealousy was rearing it ugly green head in his belly. He wanted nothing more than to punch Kelso square in the face, and then never speak to Jackie again. It was all happening man. Hadn't he called it? It didn't matter what degree of kisses he shared with Jackie, one fuck up, not buying her damn fries, and she was back to Kelso. God, she was so petty.

Michael tried nuzzling into Jackie's neck, but she slapped him away, slinging his arm off her body and tossing it back to himself. She turned towards Steven, her arms crossed over her chest and tried to get his attention. Eric stopped the Cruiser in front of Kelso's house and Michael waved a goodbye, slipping up the drive and scooping up a football, left forgotten by the overgrown rose bushes.

"Steven," Jackie whispered once they had pulled away from the Kelso's.

"No, Jackie," Steven said, staring out the window.

"Please, just talk to me?"

Steven turned to look at her. "About what?"

"I'm sorry, ok?" Jackie glanced to the front of the Cruiser, at Donna and Eric in the front seats and then back to Steven. Her hand fell to his thigh, warm and comforting, and Steven pushed it away.

"Alright," Steven said, turning to look out the window again.

"Why are you mad?" Jackie tried again, her whispered voice exasperated.

Steven turned to Jackie, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Oh, no reason. No reason at all."

"Is this because of Michael? Cause I know," Jackie pressed a hand to her heart, the other dropping to his thigh again. "I know Steven, I shouldn't have done that."

"Ok," Steven said.

"Why are you being like this?" Jackie asked, her voice at her normal, ear-shattering decibel. Eric glanced at them in the rear-view mirror and Donna turned to openly stare. "I told you I was sorry."

"Jackie, I don't give a fuck!" Steven said, throwing his hands up. "Just leave me alone!"

Tears rimmed Jackie's eyes and she spat, "Fine" before sliding across the bench seat to lean against the opposite door.

Eric shared a look with Donna, who had reached out and laid a hand on Jackie's knee. He had turned the Cruiser onto Marie Street, but after the altercation between Jackie and Steven, he continued on past the Forman's and to the next cross street, aiming the car towards Jackie's neighborhood. Donna sighed, and turned back in her seat, turning up the radio. The car was full of awkward tension, and Steven could hardly wait to be free of it.

The Cruiser pulled up the Jackie's drive and she flew from the car, slamming the door shut behind her. Gravel scattered beneath her feet as she ran for the front porch and Eric watched in shock.

"Man, Hyde, what'd you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her."

Donna scoffed.

"Have something to say, Pinciotti?" Steven challenged.

"Yeah, I do!" Donna said, turning in her seat to face him. "Why are you such a jerk? Just because you don't like Jackie the way she likes you, doesn't give you the right to just stomp all over her feelings like they're nothing!"

"Me? I didn't stomp all over anything!" Steven argued, gesturing up at Jackie's house. "She's crazy! And so wishy-washy, she doesn't know what she wants!"

"All I know is you've been a real ass towards her ever since she started pursuing you," Donna said passionately.

Steven glared at her, hating the self-righteous glint in her eye. "What do you care, Donna? You don't even like her all that much."

Donna opened her mouth to contradict what he had said and then closed it again. She whispered, "I do too like Jackie."

"Yeah, it's real easy to preach how to be a good friend, be a good person, when you're the shittiest friend to her of any of us." Steven said, his voice dead calm.

Eric glanced over his shoulder at Steven. "Hey, man, what's your problem?"

Donna had turned to face out the windshield, her arms crossed tight over her chest. She didn't say anything the rest of the trip back to the Forman's and hurried away, slamming the door so hard the Cruiser rocked on it's tires, once Eric pulled into the drive.

"What the hell, man?" Eric asked, following Steven down to the basement.

"What?" Steven said, plopping down in his vinyl chair.

Eric stood before the TV, his keys dangling from his fingers. "You've really been an ass all day. First at lunch, harping on Fez for not being able to get a girl to date him and then tonight with Donna… Man, I thought you had changed."

Steven rolled his eyes. He felt high strung and he pushed out of his chair. "Man, I'm going for a walk."

"If Red finds out you're gone when you're grounded, it's not going to be a pretty picture," Eric called after him as Steven ran up the basement steps.

The night had grown colder and Steven wished he had worn a heavier coat. He fished his last joint from his pocket and lit it, heading out of the Forman's basement for the ritzier side of town. He burned through the joint quick, feeling the weed coat his tendons and release his anger. And once the anger was gone, all that was left was a stark feeling of guilt. He had been an ass all day. Having feelings for Jackie was much more complicated than he thought it would be. Everything with her was complicated, man.

He was sweating when he stopped in front of the Burkhart's gate, but scaling the fence was easy. All the adrenaline, he supposed. He crouched low to the ground and sprinted across the wet lawn, pausing next to the French doors that led to the sitting room. He looked into the dimly lit room, trying to make out objects through the gauze curtains. A hairy arm holding a crystal glass of dark liquid rose from the arm of the couch and Steven pulled away quickly, slipping back into the darkness before he was spotted.

Stepping away from the porch, he began to search the second story windows. One of the corner rooms was lit up, the window encased with frilly, white curtains and Steven took a breath, praying it was Jackie's. He scooped up a couple of small stones from the perimeter garden encircling the house and tossed them, one by one, pausing between each, at her window.

At the fourth rock, a shadow crossed the windowpanes and Steven found he was holding his breath, only exhaling when Jackie pushed open the window and stuck out her head and shoulders into the chilly night.

"Jackie!" Steven called up to her, his voice soft so as not to draw any attention.

Jackie huffed, disappearing back into her room and slamming the window shut. Her shadow retreated back into her room and Steven cursed, kicking out at the pristine grass under his feet.

"Fuck." He palmed a couple more stones and tossed them up at the window, but Jackie never reappeared. He threw his last stone, and stared up at her window. After a few moments, he cursed again and turned to leave, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Hey!" A voice whispered-yelled at him and Steven spun around. Jackie was standing by the door to the kitchen, wearing a long white nightgown that reached her toes. She shivered in the cool air and glared at Steven as he neared her. "What are you doing here? What do you want? My parent's are home, Steven, I'm not sneaking you inside. Especially with the way you acted today-"

Steven shuffled up to her, tuning out her voice as his eyes raked her form. The recess lighting lit up her gown from behind, showing her lithe form and Steven itched to touch her. Her hair was tousled, dancing in the breeze and Steven sighed. Today was a day of fucked up emotions, he thought, but there was no denying that Jackie was beautiful. "I lied to you earlier, Jackie."

Her brow creased. "What?"

"Earlier, when I said I didn't give a fuck," Steven bit out. The marijuana was making him loose, and he bit down on his tongue.

"You lied about giving a fuck." Jackie stated, stepping off the small porch and towards him. She seemed to glide over the grass; the hem of her gown catching in the breeze and Steven had to control his breathing.

He didn't say anything as she neared, his heart pounding in his chest. Jackie reached up to cup his cheeks, her thumbs sweeping across his cheekbones. "You do give a fuck, don't you, Steven?"

Steven reached towards her in reply, his hands encasing her hips. Jackie stepped into his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly about his shoulders. "I _am_ sorry, Steven. About what I did with Michael."

"It's whatever, doll," Steven muttered into her hair. But even as he said the words, a new wave of jealousy crashed into his stomach. Michael's words were echoing in his mind. _It's never really over between us._ He held Jackie tighter and kissed her shoulder over her nightgown. Her body was warm in his arms and his hands glided up and down her back, noting her lack of bra.

"It's not, Steven," Jackie started, pulling away, but Steven silenced her with a kiss. He dominated their kiss, cupping her lower back and leaving her speechless when he pulled away.

"Look, I don't know if I can be your boyfriend," Steven bit out. Jackie pulled away surprised. "I like what we have going on here, the hanging out, just us. But I'm not boyfriend material."

"So, you'll make out with me and hang out with me, talk with me like you're my boyfriend, but you don't want the label?" Jackie asked.

"Jackie, look, why do we have to put labels on things?" Steven said. "I mean we only started this whole thing _two days ago._ "

Jackie looked down to the grass, chewing on her lower lip. "You're right."

Steven felt like his stomach had dropped to his knees. "Come again?"

"I said you're right, Steven," Jackie looked up at him. "I asked to take things slow, and now I'm the one rushing them. It was a slip-up anyway. I know you don't want to be my boyfriend."

Silence stretched between them and Steven sighed. He knew he should say something romantic, assure her that he did want her, and they'd be a happy couple some day. But he didn't. He pressed his hands into his pockets and stepped a couple paces back. "I should go before Red finds out I'm gone."

"Ok," Jackie said, staring at him. The space between them felt incalculable, and Steven didn't know what to do to bridge the gap he had created. He furrowed his brows and watched Jackie shift from foot to foot, her bare feet leaving depressions in the thick grass. "I'll see you tomorrow, Steven."

"Yeah, Jackie, I'll see you tomorrow." Steven agreed. He crossed back to her and cupped her face, kissing her mouth gently.

Jackie's eyes remained closed when Steven pulled away and she whispered into the night, "You're going to be the end of me, Steven Hyde."

"That's ironic, Doll," Steven said with a chuckle, staring into Jackie's eyes when she opened them. "That's exactly what I say about you."

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 **A/N: A lot happened in this chapter. Emotionally. Confusingly. Which is my thoughts exactly on where Steven and Jackie would be in the beginning of their relationship. Emotionally confused. Le Sigh. Please review, even if it's to tell me you hate my writing and I need to stick to my day job.**


	14. Chapter 14

**TheOld Man**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

 _And they whirl and they twirl and they tango_

 _Singing and Jinging a Jango_

 _Floating like the heavens above_

 _Looks like Muskrat Love_

 _-Muskrat Love,_ Captain and Tennille

Friday, September 9th, 1977

"Checkmate," Steven slid his queen before Jackie's king. His palms rubbed together, and he looked up at Jackie with uncovered eyes, his sunglasses clipped onto the collar of his shirt.

"What?" Jackie shrieked, staring down at the board. She slapped her palm on the arm of the couch. "No, but I was winning! I took all your pawns and your horses! Even the ugly, little Bishop guy!" She indicated the large pile of Steven's pieces, gathered  
on the couch cushion next to her. Steven was quiet, leaning back in his chair and Jackie slid forward on the couch, her butt perched on the edge of the cushion. She clapped her hands together and stared down at the chessboard. "Show me what you did."

"It's a game of strategy, right?" Steven said, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He moved the chess pieces on the board back a few plays and pointed out Jackie's king. "You messed up here, when you left your king unprotected-"

"But, you said the queen was the most important piece on the board," Jackie interrupted.

Steven licked his lips, staring down at the black and white checked board. "She is. But when you moved your queen away from my knight, you left your king boxed in by your bishops and rooks. You also let me control the center of the board with my pieces.  
You had no way of getting to my king or queen without losing your pieces." He moved the pieces around flowing through the next couple moves leading up to Jackie's loss and she tried to keep up. Steven worked quickly and Jackie soon grew frustrated  
as she lost track of the plays.

Jackie sighed heavily, leaning back on the couch. She brought a lock of hair between her fingers up before her eyes, manipulating the lock in search of split ends. "Chess is stupid."

"You're just butt hurt cause you've lost four times in a row." Steven said, setting up the board again.

"Well, do you like losing?" Jackie countered, looking up at him over the lock of hair in her fingers.

"No," Steven smirked at her, "But I haven't lost yet, now have I?"

"Ha, ha," Jackie said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She dropped the lock of hair and swept it over her shoulder. She brought her legs under her, curling against the side of the sofa, and stared up at the TV. Steven settled in his chair, propping his feet  
up on the mushroom ottoman. His fingers drummed on his arms, matching a beat only he could hear.

A commercial for Hot Wheels came on and Jackie peered around the otherwise empty basement, her lips pursed. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know," Steven mumbled, his feet starting to jiggle. "The Hub?"

"Oh," Jackie replied. She turned back to the TV and stared at it with unseeing eyes. Licking her lips, she took a breath and asked, "How long do you think they'll be gone?"

Steven turned his head to look at her. He took his sunglasses from his collar and tossed them on the spool table. His voice was low in his throat, more animal, and Jackie felt a shiver of anticipation sweep down her arms. "I don't know. Could be a while."

Jackie's eyebrows rose on her forehead, nodding her head slowly in acknowledgement. She barely registered watching Mr. Rourke and Tattoo welcoming a plane of new guests to the island. Steven's feet had come to rest on the floor, the thud of each heel  
striking the concrete echoing in her chest, and Jackie could feel her pulse pounding in her ears. She hadn't kissed Steven since Tuesday when he had come to her house to apologize, hadn't felt his touch on her body, and she felt like she had walked  
a week in the Sahara without water. There hadn't been the opportunity to make-out and Jackie was eager to take the chance to remedy the situation. She bit her lower lip, working it between her teeth. Her mouth started to say "Stev-" when the vinyl  
chairs legs scraped against the concrete, and his hands were on her shoulders, pushing her down onto the couch. The gathered chess pieces clattered to the floor with a sweep of her arm, and Jackie pulled Steven close.

Jackie's blood rushed in her ears, drowning her, and Steven covered her mouth with his, swallowing the moan that escaped her lips. The weight of his body felt familiar as he came to rest on top of her, the knee pushing between her legs sent a deep pull  
from her navel into her groin, and Jackie lost herself in the feel of his lips massaging her own. Her hands gripped at his t-shirt, soft in her fingers, and Steven's body relaxed, supporting his weight on his elbows.

They kissed for what felt like forever, slowly, _luxuriously_ , Jackie thought, and she felt should could have died, right then and there, with the romantic-ness of it. Steven kissed her like she was a precious, fragile thing, cradling her head in  
his palms and alternating the pressure of his lips. He was such a better kisser than Michael, Jackie thought with a euphoric sigh. Jackie felt like she could implode with the sheer want of Steven. His hips rocked against her, and Jackie's mouth opened  
with a silent _oh_ , giving him access to her mouth, their tongues gliding wetly over the others.

Steven pulled away from her mouth, pressing soft kisses to Jackie's throat. He settled between Jackie's legs, her knees encasing his hips, and they both breathed heavily. Jackie's fingers swept lazily up and down his back and Steven continued his languid  
assault on her neck, his fingers sweeping her hair up and away from the path of his lips. She felt like she was on fire.

" _All I'm saying is-"_

Jackie jerked away as Michael's voice drifted down the exterior stairwell. Steven peered down at her, all swollen lips and unblinking cobalt eyes.

" _-Steve McQueen could definitely take on Clint Eastwood, Fez."_

Jackie's hands pushed against Steven's shoulders, and he popped up off of her, sliding into his chair seconds before the basement door opened. Jackie smoothed her hair over her shoulders, watching Michael and Fez enter the basement, followed closely by  
Donna and Eric. She glanced at Steven, pulling her legs up under her on the couch and pretended to be engrossed with the TV. Steven's fingers were pressed against his mouth, hiding their swollen, puffy appearance. His eyes glanced at his sunglasses,  
forgotten on the spool table, and he sighed forcefully.

Michael plopped onto the sofa next to Jackie and she scooted farther away from him, propping her elbow on the arm of the couch.

"Yeah, but Clint Eastwood has that rugged, dreamy, badass persona," Donna said, coming to sit between Michael and Jackie on the couch. " _The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_ , I mean, he smolders practically the whole time."

"Wow, Donna, I had no idea you had such a thing for Dirty Harry," Eric said, standing behind her at the sofa. He peered around at his friends and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "You know, they pay those guys, like thousands of dollars to look  
that way. No one really looks that way. They grow them in laboratories. Out West."

Jackie's eyes swept over Steven. True, he wasn't Eastwood, but he was rugged in his own, disheveled way. He wasn't as lean as Michael, but he had something that Michael didn't. Like Robert Redford in _The Way We_ Were, Jackie decided. Steven fixed  
his blue eyes on her, smoldering her so she shivered once more, before they both broke their gaze, turning to stare at the TV.

Donna chuckled and leaned back, peering up at her boyfriend, her head resting on the back of the couch. "No need to be jealous, Eric, you know it's all fantasy."

Eric laughed nervously, and waved a hand in her direction, moving over to the deep freeze to grab a Popsicle. "No, it's ok, I mean- I mean, I like to look at the pretty ladies of Hollywood. The fantasy of it all."

The couple shared a look, Donna's challenging and Eric ripped the packaging off his Popsicle. He waved the frozen treat in her direction, eyebrows high on his forehead. "Don't give me that look, missy, you heard me. You can't be all Feminist now!"

Donna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms tight over her chest. "So what are we doing tonight?"

Jackie glanced at Steven, briefly meeting his eye before he glanced around at the others. He crossed his arms over his chest, head cocked to the side, away from her. His lips had lost their puff from her mouth and Jackie wished her friends were all gone  
so she could remedy it.

Michael leaned forward on the couch. "Movies? _Smokey and the Bandit_ is still showing at the theater in Madison."

"No," Jackie piped up. "We've seen that movie four times."

" _Star Wars_?" Eric threw out, nibbling on the end of his Popsicle.

"No!" The other five said together. Eric raised his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Oh, I know!" Fez said. "We could go see the new _Exorcist_ movie at the drive-in!"

"All of us in a car at the drive-in?" Steven said, giving Fez a disgusted look. "What are we going to do, share make-out partners?"

"I'm not kissing anybody," Jackie bit out, avoiding looking at Steven.

Michael wrapped an arm around Donna, his extended fingers stroking Jackie's shoulder. "Come on, ladies, you know you want to help the less fortunate out."

Donna slapped him across the belly, causing Michael to double over. "Pig!" while Jackie chorused in with "Animal!"

"It was just a thought, _Donna_!" Michael exclaimed, withdrawing his arm from her.

"What about _Saturday Night Fever_?" Jackie suggested.

"The disco movie?" Steven looked at her, fixing his look of disgust on her. Jackie set her jaw, staring back with a look of contempt herself. _Appearances, keep up appearances_ , she reminded herself _. It's not personal._

"Yes, disco." Jackie fingered a lock of hair, wrapping it around her pointer finger. Steven watched the movement. "Who knows, you may even learn how to dance, Steven."

He smirked at her, tightening the grip of his arms across his chest. "I know how to dance, Jackie."

"When did you learn-" Jackie started to ask, cutting herself off. "Whatever, look, I say we see _Saturday Night Fever_."

"I'll see it," Michael said, nodding his head in agreement.

Fez smiled. "I will too!"

"Meh, I guess, yeah," Eric acquiesced, finishing his Popsicle and throwing the stick in the trash. " _Saturday Night Fever_ it is."

Jackie squealed with excitement, clapping her hands together quickly. "Oh, my God, yes! I've wanted to see this for so long. Oh, my God, Donna, isn't John Travolta so sexy?"

"He's not bad. He's no Eastwood, but he's ok," Donna said. "Anyone got the paper to check out movie times?"

"I think it's upstairs," Eric said, leaning against the deep freeze. Donna crossed her arms over her chest and smiled stiffly at her boyfriend. Eric puckered his mouth and pushed off the deep freeze. "And I will go and get it, mi 'lady."

Fez leaned over from his seat in the lawn chair and straightened up with a rook in his fingers. "Why are there chess pieces all over the floor?"

-x-

Jackie hooked her arm through Fez's as they left the theater. "Fezzie, you could so definitely pull off all of Travolta's looks! Tony Manero; I'm going to call you Tony. Can you imagine, walking the halls dressed like that, you'd finally be cool!"

"Or stuffed in more lockers," Steven added, following behind the pair with the rest of the gang trailing him.

"Oh, I would be more than cool," Fez said, strutting like Tony across the parking lot towards the Cruiser. He tightened his hold on Jackie's arm and she rocked her shoulders as she hummed loudly. Fez grasped her hand and spun her in a circle, and they  
began to dance, much to the embarrassment of their friends, loudly singing Night Fever by the Bee Gee's. Fez took Jackie's hands, tugging on her arms roughly and bringing her in close to his body, his face inches from hers. His breath warmed Jackie's  
face and she drew away from him slightly. "I would finally land the hottest girl in Point Place."

Steven and Michael snorted, drawing Fez and Jackie's attention. Fez dance-walked Jackie to the car, the both of them laughing to themselves, ignoring the groans of their friends as they merengue-d their way across the asphalt. Jackie pulled away once  
they got to the car, tossing her purse on top of the Cruiser. "We need to go to the disco in Kenosha again. I need that peach dress Stephanie wears! I could so wear it better than her."

"You, my goddess, would put her to shame," Fez exclaimed, grasping her hand and kissing the top of it.

Jackie struck a pose, breaking out in peals of laughter as Fez mimicked her. They slid into the back of the Cruiser, Jackie moving to the middle as Steven followed behind, forcing Michael to take the front passenger's seat. Kelso stamped his foot and  
whined crossly, pouting as he climbed in beside Donna, glancing over his shoulder at the back seat. "Make me sit with the squares, real nice, Hyde."

"Hey!" Donna said huffily. "We are not squares!"

"Alright, whatever you need to think to help you feel better," Michael said.

Donna punched Kelso in the shoulder and huffed in aggravation. Eric wrapped his arm around her shoulders, patting her arm consolingly. "Donna, it's ok. You don't want to upset your stomach."

Steven slung his arm over the back of the seat, not quite touching Jackie's body. She settled back into the leather seat. Steven's body heat soaked into her and Jackie slid closer to him on the bench seat, pressing her thigh against his. Fez was still  
singing the Bee Gee's as Eric pulled the Cruiser onto the main road back towards Point Place. He held his fist before his mouth and sang loudly, passing the mike to Jackie only to have his hand roughly shoved away with a "We don't need to lose our  
hearing listening to her sing" from Michael.

Jackie thumped Michael on the back of the head, pouting as she settled back into her seat. "I'm not that bad of a singer."

Michael looked at her over his shoulder. "Jackie, you made my dog throw up when you sang 'Que Sera, Sera' at Christmas two years ago."

"Well," Jackie threw out, crossing her arms over her chest. "That must've been a fluke. Besides, didn't that dog die like a week later anyway?"

"Yep," Michael said, drawing out the word. "We had to have him put down after his eardrums burst and he was irreparably damaged from listening to your voice."

Jackie wacked him on the back of the head again, harder, the sting of the slap echoing in the cramped car. "Shut up, Michael. You probably gave him chocolate again, didn't you?"

Michael rubbed at back of his skull. "He was giving me that look, that stare! You can't resist the stare!"

"Oh, my God, Kelso," Donna said, leaning against Eric.

"What?" Michael asked indignantly. "It was an accident!"

Jackie glanced at Steven, rolling her eyes in exasperation. He smirked at her and turned to stare out the window, the arm across the seat behind her touching her shoulders briefly. She sighed, licking her lips as Eric pulled into The Hub's parking lot.  
The gang piled out of the car, Fez attempting to dance with Jackie once more, only to be thwarted by Hyde. "Come on man, enough with the dancin'."

"Hyde!" Fez whined. He adjusted the waist of his pants and muttered under his breath, "Jackie won't let me touch her unless it's to 'dance'."

Steven patted Fez on the shoulder. "Man, you need a woman."

"Well I'll never have one if you keep telling me to stop touching Jackie," Fez argued, following behind Steven into The Hub.

"We'll find you a woman, Fez," Steven led them across the linoleum floor towards their usual table at the back of the restaurant. "One that will actually enjoy your touch."

"Like a fat chick," Jackie added. "They're desperate to be touched. Just like you Fezzie."

Fez smiled, looking from Jackie to Steven. "Thanks guys, you are the best."

Jackie pressed a hand to her heart. She took a seat at the gang's usual table, across from Steven. "Oh, Fez. I know."

Michael pulled out the chair next to Jackie, taking a seat close to her. He wrapped his arm about the back of her chair. He looked about at their friends and leaned close to her, his breath hot on her cheek. "So, Jacks, there's something I've been meaning  
to talk to you about."

"I'm going to go get some food," Steven stood from his spot across the table. Donna and Fez both grew silent, watching Michael and Jackie with sharp eyes.

"What, Michael?" Jackie scrutinized Steven's lean against the order counter, laughing with Forman to a joke she couldn't hear. His shoulders were tense, and he avoided meeting her gaze. She glanced at Michael, and then away, towards Steven again.

"Well, I'm sure you know, but things between Laurie and me, well it hasn't been good." Kelso's fingers stroked her arm and he flipped his feathered hair out of his face with a shake of his head. The motion caught Jackie's eye. Jackie admired how good-looking  
he was, the way the fluorescent lighting shone off his shiny hair, catching faint hints of red in his brown locks. His eyes were deep brown and he gave her a look that he clearly thought was sexy. When he kept his mouth shut, he was the perfect boyfriend.

"Ok, and I care, why?" Jackie said, turning away from Michael. Michael's fingers moved up her arm and into her hair, stroking the silky strands at the nape of her neck. Steven turned his back to her, staring back into the kitchen where Frank was just  
visible at the grill. His arms were crossed, knees askew, and Jackie thought he hadn't looked so _Hyde_ in a while.

"Well, you know how it is with you and me, Jacks," Michael continued, leaning close to blow a thin stream of air across the shell of her ear. Jackie jerked away. Michael persisted, wrapping his arm about her shoulders again. "I think it's time we talk  
about us."

"About us?" Jackie repeated, turning to stare at him. Fez and Donna exchanged tense glances.

"Yeah, about us getting back together." Michael said, smiling at her.

"Us getting back-" Jackie shrugged his arm off her shoulder. Steven and Eric had returned to the table. Jackie looked around at their friends and whispered harshly. "We will talk about this later, Michael."

Kelso looked around the table and pulled Jackie's chair close to him, the legs screeching against the linoleum. "Jacks, you know we're meant to be together, all you gotta do is say you want to be with me too."

Jackie felt her breaths quicken and she stared into Michael's eyes without blinking. Michael was incredibly good-looking, true, but he was a liar and a cheat. And he kissed her like he was eager to get her naked, not enjoy the feel of her sugar soft lips  
on his. Steven enjoyed her kiss. But Michael was her first… And there was something to that. It just wasn't enough, Jackie decided, expelling a lungful of air. Michael's hair fluttered about his face and Jackie cupped a hand on his smooth cheek.

"Oh, Michael," Jackie started, burning under the gaze of her four friends gathered around them. Steven paused mid-chew of his hotdog. Her hand dropped from his face. "No."

Michael chuckled, a donkey snicker that escaped from his nostrils. "No?"

"No." Jackie asserted.

"Well, I didn't see that one coming," Donna said, still staring between Jackie and Michael.

"I don't think psychics saw this coming," Eric said around a mouthful of hot dog.

Kelso dropped his arm from Jackie's body. "I don't understand? I thought that you loved me?"

Jackie sighed, looking down to the warped Formica tabletop. Her pointer finger traced a water ring. "Michael, I do love you."

"Did she just say she loves him?" This was from Fez.

"Shut up, man," Steven chided, and Fez cried out, rubbing his deltoid from Hyde's frogging.

"But I'm not in love with you," Jackie finished. She settled her hands in her lap and turned to Michael.

Michael's face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?"

"I'm not in love with you."

"But you just said you loved me."

"I do love you."

"But you're not in love with me?"

"Right."

Michael drew his arm away from Jackie's chair completely. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Michael, it makes perfect sense." Jackie argued.

"I agree with Jackie, I think it makes sense," Donna threw in, munching on some fries. Jackie felt a smile take over her face. She reached across the table and grasped Donna's hand.

"Thank you, Donna!"

"Women are crazy," Michael muttered under his breath, standing up and wandering over to the order counter.

"Jackie," Fez started, sliding into Kelso's vacant seat. "So now that you and Kelso are over and done, forever and ever, would you go out with me?"

"No, Fez," Jackie turned to Fez with a small smile. "But thank you."

Fez sighed dejectedly, and leaned back in his chair. "It was worth a shot."

-x-

Eric drove them to the seedier side of town, stopping before a run down set of apartments. Jackie examined the building with scorn, her thigh warm against Steven's next to her. She turned to Eric, leaning forward in her seat. "Why are we here? Poor people  
live here."

"Yup," Steven said, opening his car door. "Me."

"Steven, you live here?" Jackie screeched, pointing incredulously up at the seedy building. A homeless man was passed out on the steps, an empty bottle clutched in his hands and a gang of feral cats was digging through a pair of garbage cans. Jackie turned  
her attention to Steven standing on the sidewalk. She gripped the open window, sliding into Steven's recently vacated seat, still hot with his body heat. "But, you live with the Forman's!"

"Not anymore," Steven said. He lifted a hand in goodbye. "Thanks for the ride, Forman."

"See ya later, man," Eric said, waiting till Steven entered the building to pull away. Jackie stared in horror as they drove away, leaving Steven behind, and shoved the lock down on her door.

"Steven lives there?" Jackie turned to Eric. "What happened? Did your parents kick him out?"

"No, his dad is back in town," Eric said, heading towards Jackie's house.

"He's never said anything to me about it," Jackie bit out.

"Because you guys are such great friends?" Eric said sarcastically. "Why would he tell you Jackie?"

Donna peered at Jackie over her shoulder. "You're not still after Hyde, are you?"

"What?" Jackie scoffed. "No, Donna. No. I am not 'still after Hyde'."

Donna folded her arms on top of the bench seat, smiling at Jackie. "Are you sure? I've noticed the way you stare at him."

"Shut up, Donna," Jackie muttered, staring out the window as her neighborhood came into view.

Donna rested her chin on her folded arms. "I think someone is in _love_."

Eric laughed along with Donna, coming to a stop before Jackie's house. Jackie swung open her door and slammed it as hard as she could behind her, stalking up the graveled drive towards her house.

"You best watch that attitude, missy!" Eric hollered after her, leaning across the bench seat to holler out Donna's open window. "Hyde won't want you if you throw fits and destroy other peoples' property!"

Jackie swept up the porch and into the house, slamming the door behind her. She shrieked a yell, pounding her closed fist on the heavy wooden door. She jerked back with a hiss, the side of her hand stinging.

"Kitten?" Her fathers voice called from his study. Jackie leaned back against the door, staring angrily down the hall at the door to her father's office. She clutched her stinging hand to her chest. "Kitten!" Jack called out more forcefully, and Jackie  
trudged down the hall towards her father, stopping just inside the door. Jack Burkhart was behind his desk; glasses perched halfway down the bridge of his nose and pouring a tumbler of scotch. "Hi, Kitten. How was your day?"

"It was alright," Jackie mumbled, coming into the ornate room and plopping into one of the wing-backed chairs before the ornate desk. Her father sipped at his glass, peering at her over the rim of the crystal.

"What's the matter, Kitten?" Jack said, placing his glass down and shuffling some of the papers scattered across his ink blotter. "Did you and that Kelso boy get in another fight? You know I don't like him, Jacqueline."

"I'm not dating Michael anymore, Daddy," Jackie said quietly, sinking down in her chair. Jack Burkhart's eyes narrowed critically. Jackie's eyes widened and she gestured dramatically with her hands. "I promise!"

"Then what is it?" Jack said, tapping the stack of papers together into a neat pile. He set them in a drawer to his right and locked it, placing the key in his pocket. He picked up his glass and sipped at the contents, pursing his lips after each swallow.  
"Do you need money?"

"It's nothing, Daddy," Jackie said, trying to put some perk in her voice. She pushed herself up by the arms of the chair, settling back against the plush upholstery. "Just worried about a friend."

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry," Jack said. He avoided Jackie's eye, swiveling in his chair. He stared down at the amber liquid in his glass. "Do you need money to help this friend?"

A light bulb went off in Jackie's head. If she got money, than maybe she could get Steven out of that run-down, rat infested apartment building. Steven could move back in with the Forman's, or maybe even get his own place, and it would be easier for Jackie  
to meet up with him to make-out and further explore their relationship. And interrogate him for information, since apparently, Steven did not share anything with her. Anything to get him out of that place. The more she thought about it, the more she  
imagined him stepping over that drunken homeless man, the angrier she became. And the angrier she became, the more she grew in conviction that Steven wasn't meant to live in that cesspool.

"I will have to get back to you on that, Daddy," Jackie said, standing from her chair. She swept around the side of the desk, coming to a stop by her father. She placed a kiss on his stubbled cheek and ran from the room, gliding up the stairs to her bedroom.  
Steven Hyde was about to have the best day of his life, tomorrow, when she found him and told him the news that he wouldn't have to live in that decrepit building ever again.

-x-

Steven was walking down the street towards the Forman's neighborhood when Jackie screeched to a stop beside him. The Lincoln's electric window whirled down and Jackie motioned for Steven to get in.

Steven looked up and down the street, stepping down off the curb to get into the warm Lincoln. He gave her a look of confusion and Jackie stepped on the gas, peeling out. She drove them towards Mount Hump, weaving in and out of traffic.

"What's up, Jackie?" Steven asked, as Jackie sped up to soar through a yellow light. A woman in a station wagon stared at them incredulously as they blurred past. Steven shifted in his seat, rubbing his palms down the thighs of his pants. "You murder  
someone?"

"No, Steven, I didn't murder anyone," Jackie said, rolling her eyes. She pulled into Point Place Park, steering the car towards Mount Hump. The tires left black marks on the pavement as she whipped the steering wheel hard to the right.

Steven peered over the front seat into the back of the car. "Did your dad murder someone? Is there a body to bury?"

"Quit being so morbid, Steven," Jackie said. She drove a little too quickly up Mount Hump, nearly careening into a parked car before she skidded to a stop at The Overlook. Jackie threw the car in park and turned to Steven. "I'm glad I found you, I'd been  
driving around for like forty minutes."

"That long huh?" Steven deadpanned.

"Steven," Jackie said, turning her body completely in her seat. "Why didn't you tell me you were living with your dad?"

Steven gave her a look of confusion. He ran a hand over his face and groaned. His mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish. "I didn't think it was that important?"

"Steven, it's important to _me_ ," Jackie said, pressing a hand to her heart.

"Ok," Steven drew out the word, giving Jackie a weird look.

"And you, Steven, _you_ are important to _me_ ," Jackie continued. She reached across the seat and grasped his hand, squeezing it in her fingers. "Having said that, Steven, there's something I want to do for you."

"Ok," Steven repeated, his fingers limp in her own.

Jackie exhaled. "I want to give you some money so you can get out of that place."

Steven's hand went dead fish limp in her own. "Excuse me?"

"I want to give you money, Steven," Jackie said, shaking her hair over her shoulder. "I mean, do you really want to live in that poor, smelly apartment?"

"It doesn't smell that bad," Steven said quietly. He withdrew from her. "Wait, give me money? Jackie, I don't want your daddy's money."

"You want to actually stay there?" Jackie asked skeptically.

"Jackie, it's my dad." Steven's voice was growing thick with anger. "It's not up to you to dictate where I live."

"I'm just trying to help," Jackie was growing angry herself. "Why are you getting upset?"

"Because I didn't ask for your help, Jackie! You kidnap me from the side of the road, and throw this at me!" Steven's hands clenched into fists on his thighs, and he took a deep, steadying breath. He panted angrily for a moment, and turned to stare out  
the window. He spat under his breath, "It would've been better if you'd had a body to bury."

"I don't understand. Michael was always-"

Steven's head dropped back to rest on the headrest. "I should've known Kelso was going to be brought up."

Jackie paused, her lips pursed. "All I was going to say was that Michael was always accepting of my gifts."

"I don't want it, Jackie."

"I don't get you, Steven!" Jackie exclaimed, her voice shrill. "I was just trying to do something nice, something that a girl-"

Jackie cut herself off. Steven turned to her, his head rising from the back of the seat. He shook his head, chewing on his lower lip. His blue eyes were hard and Jackie shrank away from him. When he spoke next, he wasn't her Steven. He was Hyde. "Something  
that a 'girlfriend' would do? Is that what you were going to say?"

"No," Jackie asserted. She crossed her arms over her chest and blinked away the hot sting of tears that threatened to spill. "I was going to say what a girl who is a good friend would do for someone."

"Uh huh." Steven said. He rubbed the palms of his hands down the thighs of his jeans. "Jackie, this is fun and all, but do you think we're doing the right thing, here?"

Jackie's heart fell to the pit of her stomach. "What? What are you saying, Steven?"

Steven stared out the passenger's window. "I just mean, with Kelso and everything. You keep calling yourself my girlfriend, and I thought we had agreed not to put labels on anything. Maybe we're toying with fire here."

"I honestly didn't mean to say that, Steven, I know we're not putting labels on anything." Jackie pressed a hand to her heart. "It was an honest slip-up."

"Ok, but then there's still Kelso, Jackie," Steven said, his voice eerily calm.

"What about Michael?"

Steven glanced at Jackie and than back out the passenger's window. "Nothing."

"You can't do that, Steven." Jackie said, grasping his upper arm. "You can't just say something and then not explain yourself."

"Jackie, it doesn't matter," Steven bit out. "Drop it."

Jackie slumped in the drivers seat. She felt drained. "I was just trying to do something nice for you."

"It's not up to you to fix me," Steven's voice had risen, filling the cab of the Lincoln with its gruffness.

"I'm not trying to fix you," Jackie argued, tracing her pointer finger along the leather wrapping over the steering wheel. "I'm just trying to improve you."

"Improve me?" Steven spat, turning to stare at her. "What the fuck, Jackie?"

"What?" Jackie asked, genuinely confused. Her left hand rest on the bottom of the steering wheel and she shook her head in bewilderment. "What, now I'm a bad person because I think it's proactive to _improve_ my friends?"

Steven stared at Jackie with contempt. He scoffed and popped open the passenger door. "You know what Jackie, I'm done."

"Done?" Jackie repeated, watching Steven exit the vehicle. Her heart stuttered in her chest and she scrambled out of the car after him. "Steven! Wait!"

Steven paused on his descent down Mount Hump. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, keeping his back to her. Jackie stalked after him, regretting wearing her wedges as she slipped on the loose dirt, arms flailing. "What?"

"I'm sorry, ok?" Jackie yelled at his back, watching as he stiffened. "I'm sorry that I actually _care_ and that I have only the best intentions for the people that I _care_ about and if that makes me weak, than you're just going to have to  
get over that! Just because you don't _care_ about anyone, doesn't mean that people don't _care_ about you!"

Jackie paused, panting with emotion. Steven began to start off down the mountain, his neck bent so his head of curly hair was barely visible from Jackie's position. He paused, dragging his feet, and clouds of dirt rose up about his ankles. He turned suddenly  
and made his way back up the path, staring Jackie down as he neared her. Jackie felt her body react, trying to move away, towards the Lincoln, but willed her feet to stay rooted to the ground.

Steven stopped before her, his breath washing over her face as he began to speak, his voice low and angry in the back of his throat. "I don't need you, Jackie. I've lived my life pretty fucking great before you, and I'll continue to live it great without  
you. I don't need you to change me. I don't _want_ you to change me."

"You don't even know what you want," Jackie hissed back, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest.

"I know what I want, Jackie," Steven replied, not breaking eye contact.

"No, Steven, I don't think you do," Jackie contended, taking a step closer. "You don't even _care_ about what happens."

"What do you really know about me, Jackie?" Steven said, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Nothing, that's what."

"Oh," Jackie exclaimed. "I know much more about you than you think I do, Steven Hyde."

"No, Jackie, you only _think_ you do," Steven retorted. "You can't change a tiger's stripes."

"I don't want to change you, Steven," Jackie said, rolling her eyes. "I just want you to be more open with me."

"But that's not who I am, Jackie. I'm not open about anything. I don't want to be open with people."

"Because you fear rejection!" Jackie sputtered, reaching out and gripping Steven's upper arms.

"What?" Steven reeled away, but Jackie hung on. "I do not!"

"Steven, just let me in!" Jackie stepped closer, her fingers gripping Steven's jacket. He was standoffish, closed off from her but Jackie persisted, releasing his coat to spread her fingers across his cheeks. Her nails scratched at his sideburns and Steven  
stared warily down at her. "All I want is to be let in. I only want to know about you and who you are."

"That's not who I am, Jackie," Steven said cagily.

Jackie pursed her lips. "Just try, for me."

"I can't promise you anything Jackie," Steven eventually said. His eyes were dark, nearly black in the fading sky and Jackie pressed herself against him.

"Just try, Steven," Jackie beseeched him again. "For me."

Steven sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I don't know." He splayed his feet, avoiding meeting her eye, with his hands pressed firmly into his coat pockets. "I don't know, Jackie."

Jackie exhaled heavily, staring up at Steven's face. She rubbed at his cheeks with the pads of her thumbs, marveling at the smooth skin. She pressed her lips closed, rubbing the flesh together before she spoke again. "Ok, Steven. For now, ok."

"I'm only going to disappoint you."

Jackie pulled him closer. "You don't know that."

Steven's hands came to a rest at her hips. "You don't know that I won't."

Jackie felt like she could cry. She pulled his face towards her, growing more upset when Steven resisted. She huffed in exasperation. "Just kiss me, Steven."

And he did, pressing his mouth to hers in a desperate attempt to convey all the things he would not say and that Jackie could never understand. His chest was firm against hers and Jackie clung to him, wrapping her arms about his shoulders. Their teeth  
clashed together and Steven pulled away to rub his thumb across her bottom lip. "Sorry, Jackie."

"I'm fine," Jackie said, pulling him to her once more. She sucked on his bottom lip, rolling her teeth across his soft flesh and rocking her hips to his. Steven grasped at the back of Jackie's knees, yanking her up and hooking her legs about his hips.  
He stumbled forward, stopping when Jackie was pressed against the trunk of the Lincoln. He leaned over her, pressing her back into the cool metal of the car. Jackie pulled away, her hands at his shoulders. "Steven."

Steven dipped to kiss the column of her throat. Jackie nearly moaned at the contact, pushing more firmly at his shoulders. "What?" Steven breathed, pulling back to look her in the eye.

"Steven," Jackie said, swallowing thickly. "I want you."

"What?" Steven said, stepping away from Jackie completely. A rush of cold air swept over her body and Jackie slid down to stand on her feet, adjusting the hem of her shirt over her hips.

"I want you," Jackie asserted. Having Steven, accepting his body and giving him hers, was maybe the only way to prove to him that she was being truthful in what she said. That she cared, and she wanted to know him. Maybe he would trust her, if she gave  
him this. Maybe he would finally understand that Michael was a thing of her past. Jackie swept her hands up Steven's chest, pushing his jacket open. Her thumbs circled his nipples over his shirt. His eyes grew heavy with lust and Jackie let her hands  
drop to the waist of his jeans, the tips of her fingers dipping just slightly under the waistband, briefly touching the trail of coarse hairs leading from his belly button into the depths of his denims. She shook her hair over her shoulders, "Don't  
you want me too?"

"Jackie-" Steven began, looking down as Jackie's fingers slipped his belt from the buckle. "Jackie, stop."

"What?" Jackie paused, drawing her lower lip into her mouth. "Why?"

"Jackie, I do want you." Steven mumbled, staring down as he pushed her hands off his leather belt, quickly securing it tightly about his hips again. "I want you a lot. But not like this."

"Like this? Like what?" Jackie asked. She felt a wave of embarrassment roll over her and she crossed her arms across her chest.

Steven kept his distance, his head dropping back on his neck to stare up at the sky. "I won't have you like Kelso did. Rushed, in the backseat."

"How do you know how Michael and I did it?" Jackie stammered, heat spreading across her chest and up her neck.

"You think he didn't tell any of us?" Steven said woodenly. He spanned the space to Jackie, pulling her arms free of herself. His warm hands wrapped themselves around her own, linking their fingers. He looked down at the ground, watching their feet, and  
sighed heavily. "I wouldn't do that, tell everyone I mean, but I still won't have you like Kelso had you."

"Oh, Steven," Jackie cooed, gripping his fingers tightly. "You do care."

Steven rolled his eyes, looking up and out across The Overlook. He smirked and brought his eyes down to gaze at her. Gently, he kissed her mouth, drawing back with an eyebrow quirked. "Jackie, shut up."

.

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 **A/N: Honestly, I do not like any of Captain and Tennille, so it was incredibly hard to listen to this song to get into the mindset of Jackie to write this chapter. But it was the song that I thought** _ **lyrically**_ **made some sort of sense, at least to me. I've started my next semester of school, along with working full time, so I can't guarantee time frames for my next update, but I hope that it'll be soon. As always, please review! Much love to all!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

 _Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me;_

 _Other times I can barely see._

 _Lately it occurs to me, what a long strange trip it's been._

 _-Truckin',_ Grateful Dead

November 1977

10 miles outside of Kenosha, WI

Steven draped his arm around Jackie's shoulders, pulling her close as they waited in line at the concessions stand. She had been pouting for a solid, and very long, forty minutes, ever since he had pulled the Lincoln into the Great Lake's Dragaway parking lot and Steven wasn't sure what exactly had upset her. Jackie turned her face away, her arms crossed tightly over her chest and Steven sighed, the weight of his arm on her body feeling heavy, even to him. Steven pulled her closer, noting the stiffness of her body.

The line edged closer to the counter and Jackie sidestepped out of Steven's touch, avoiding his gaze as she looked around the people milling under the bleachers. A buzzer sounded and the echo of two engines gunning it down the drag strip filled their ears.

The couple in front of them moved up to the counter to order and Steven hooked his thumbs on his belt buckle, his lips pursed. Jackie was obviously waiting for him to ask her what was wrong and Steven wasn't biting. He watched the man in front of him pay for his beers and then moved forward, leaving Jackie a pace behind him.

A pimply-faced teenager stared blankly at Steven. Holding up two fingers, Steven said, "Beers, and a hot dog."

The cashier gave him a piercing look and then shook his head tiredly, punching a few buttons on the register before him.

Jackie huffed behind Steven. She whispered angrily at his shoulder, her warm breath washing over his neck, "I don't want a beer, Steven."

"And a pop," Steven added as the pimple-faced kid moved off to pour the two beers. The cashier waved a hand over his shoulder, grabbing two tall paper cups from a stack near the keg at the back of the concessions stand. Steven turned to look at Jackie, propping his hand on the counter.

Jackie glanced at him, and then away, her face hardening even more. Steven felt like laughing. She had been excited when he had first shown up at her house, unexpected, and told her to get the keys to the Lincoln. He hadn't given the details of where they were going, just that it was Near Kenosha and No She Didn't Need To Change. Jackie's demeanor had changed drastically when Steven pulled up to the Great Lakes Dragaway, and had only continued to darken as Steven led her around a row of muscle cars, trailing behind Steven and ignoring him as he exchanged words with a few of the drivers, wandering away till a fifty year old man tried to lure her closer to check out his dipstick.

"That'll be four fifty," The cashier announced, placing the two cups of beer on the sticky counter, next to the pop and hot dog. Steven slid a five across the counter, drawing the two beers close. Jackie reached out and took the pop and hot dog, stalking off towards the entrance to the stands.

Steven followed her, stepping close to Jackie when a greasy haired biker ogled her ass as they stepped up the metal ramp to the stands. Jackie, oblivious to the attention, sashayed up the ramp, turning sharply to take the stairs, hips swaying at Steven's eye level as she led them to an empty row about halfway up. Jackie glared around at the other spectators and sipped at her soda.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" A booming voice echoed across the stands as Steven and Jackie took their seats. Two Shelby Mustangs idled to the starting line. "Welcome to the Great Lakes Dragaway! As always, be respectful, have fun, and the Miss Wisconsin Beauty Pageant will begin in one hour by the pit."

"Beauty Pageant?" Jackie said. Her eyes swung around, landing on the pit and she scoffed. "Why didn't you tell me there was a beauty pageant? I could've entered. And won, obviously."

"I didn't know there was going to be a beauty pageant," Steven lied. He had heard the radio advertisement nearly every day this week, he just hadn't wanted to deal with Jackie prepping for a stupid and meaningless pageant. Steven took a large sip of beer and trained his eyes on the track as the Mustangs revved their engines. A man in a bright yellow shirt gripped a checkered flag and stepped between both cars. He raised his arm high in the air and then brought it down swiftly, matching the wail of the buzzer, and disappearing in a cloud of burning tire smoke and exhaust as the two cars roared down the strip.

"Steven, I want to go see the beauty pageant." Jackie said, resting her hand on his knee. Steven set his beer at his feet, next to the full one, and smacked his lips together in satisfaction. Jackie gripped at his leg. She pouted at him, her lower lip jutting out. "I want to see what qualifies for beauty to these unfortunate people. Probably buck teeth and crossed eyes. Just like the South."

"Jackie, he said it starts in an hour," Steven mumbled. The announcer read out the scores for the two cars and Steven watched as the next two vehicles idled up to the starting line.

Jackie sighed loudly, withdrawing her hand. She picked at the hot dog, taking a bite and then setting it aside. Steven reached around her, grabbing the hot dog from beside Jackie and took a large bite. Jackie watched him take another bite, swallowing her own mouthful and chewing on the straw of her pop with one perfectly plucked eyebrow arched high on her forehead. Steven dropped the last bite of hot dog into the basket and set it back beside Jackie, reaching to his feet to grab his beer, chewing around his mouthful.

"Did you enjoy my hot dog?" Jackie asked, staring at Steven as he drank deeply from his cup.

"Huh?" Steven looked to Jackie, holding his beer with both hands. He had leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees.

"I asked if you enjoyed my hot dog?" Jackie asked, crossing her legs at the knee.

"And I said, 'huh'?" Steven muttered. He turned away, watching at the two cars barreled down the drag strip, the air echoing the starting buzzer.

Jackie huffed. "You ate all the hot dog, Steven."

"No," Steven said. "There's still a bite left."

"Steven," Jackie whined. "I'm so hungry."

Steven's head dropped and he stared down at the metal bleachers. "Jackie, are you going to complain the entire time we're here?"

"I don't know, if I get something else to eat, are you going to eat it?" Jackie rebutted. She kicked out, the heels of her boots echoing as they made contact with the bleachers. "And I haven't complained the whole time."

"I bought the hot dog, Jackie," Steven said, looking up at the track.

"So that just gives you the right to eat it?" Jackie argued. She set her empty soda cup at their feet.

"Are you kidding me, right now?" Steven murmured.

"Steven," Jackie whined again. She slid her hand across his thigh again, her skin warming his. Her fingers inched their way closer to his crotch and Steven pretended to ignore the swooping sensation, staring Zen-like out over the drag strip. Jackie slid closer to him on the metal bleachers and pressed her body close. "Steven, don't you want to go get me another hot dog?"

"Not really," Steven said, taking the last gulp of beer and switching the empty cup with the full one at his feet.

Jackie batted her eyelashes, the pressure of her breasts against his arm increasing as she took a large inhale. Steven took a huge swallow of beer, enjoying the feeling of Jackie's fingers rubbing slow circles on the inside of his thigh and the feeling of the beer warming his extremities. It felt as though all the blood in his body had pooled in his crotch and Steven wished they were closeted away in his bedroom where he could act on his needs. Jackie's fingers edged the seam of his pants. "Steven… Don't you care that I'm hungry? And thirsty?"

Steven held out the cup of beer in Jackie's direction, briefly meeting her eye. Jackie's fingers paused on his thigh, tantalizingly close to his dick. Her eyebrows drew together on her forehead and she shook her head. "No, Steven, a pop."

"Well you already met your limit on number of pop's I'm buyin' this evening." Steven brought the cup of beer to his lips. Jackie's fingers cupped Steven's thigh. Her head dipped to his shoulder, her nose and lips teasing the flesh of his neck.

"But Steven," Jackie breathed, briefly touching her lips to his skin. She paused as the squeal of tires peeling out filled the air. "I'll do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want, huh?" Steven said, quirking an eyebrow in her direction.

Jackie's hand slid down his thigh, towards his knee and Steven almost groaned out loud, thankfully, his Zen holding out. She rolled her eyes, and said, "Well, no, not 'whatever'."

Steven sighed dramatically. He took a small taste of beer and said lowly, "Than sorry, Doll, no deal."

"Fine," Jackie grumbled, drawing away from Steven completely. She crossed her arms over her chest. " _Fine_ , don't get me something. I'll just sit here, hungry and thirsty, and totally uncomfortable on these ridiculously hard, metal bleachers." Jackie began to tap the toes of her boots on the bleacher, louder and louder. "What even is drag racing? What's the point of watching two cars race down a _straight piece of asphalt_? I mean-"

"Holy fucks, ok, Jackie!" Steven stood up suddenly, making for the stairs leading down the bleachers. He pulled at the thighs of his jeans, surreptitiously adjusting his half-swollen member.

"Thank you, Steven!" Jackie called as he descended the bleachers towards the concessions. "A pop! And a hot dog!"

"Yeah, yeah," Steven muttered under his breath, exiting down the ramp. He looked up at Jackie sitting by herself in the stands, looking completely pleased with herself. "God, I'm turning into such a sap."

Steven stalked up to the concessions stand, hurrying to beat a young kid in line. The cashier looked at him blankly. Steven pulled out his wallet. "Yeah, man, I need a pop, a hot dog and another beer."

"Alright," The cashier puffed, moving off to get the items. Steven bounced his wallet on the corner of the counter, growing anxious. It was his lack of sex, finally catching up to him, he was sure of it. Jackie had been a major tease, drawing him in, nearly touching him and then pulling away before he was able to find pleasure. Jerking off was not as satisfying. They had grown further in their relationship, moving so far as to make out topless before Jackie would stop, drawing away with her hands hiding her breasts and Steven had to excuse himself to the bathroom under the pretense of an intense need to shower. Steven had the feeling that Jackie knew what she was doing, teasing him to keep him interested. What she didn't realize was that he had been interested for a long time, longer than she had been knowingly teasing him with the idea of her body.

The cashier came back, sliding the items towards Steven. They exchanged money and Steven hurried back up the ramp to the bleachers. Jackie was watching him from her perch, chin resting on her hands. She smiled broadly as he neared her, delighted, and Steven felt his stomach flutter in his belly. God, she was beautiful. And God, did he want her.

"Here," Steven said, holding out the pop and hot dog. Jackie took them from him, and eyed the fresh beer in his hand. The smile on her mouth stuttered, and she looked away.

"Another beer?" Jackie asked, taking a bite from the hot dog. She chewed quickly and gestured to the half-drunk beer he had yet to finish. "You still have a beer."

"Yeah, but I'll want another one after this one and now I won't have to leave to go get it." Steven said, picking up the nearly empty cup. He drained it in two long mouthfuls, and belched under his breath, noting Jackie's scowl. He reached out and grasped her knee. "What?"

"Nothing," Jackie said, taking another bite of hot dog.

They were quiet, watching the races, and Jackie caved, leaning against Steven's side as time passed, her petulance seemingly forgotten with the presence of a full stomach. Steven finished his third beer and set the empty cup at his feet, reveling in the feel of Jackie's body against his. She draped her arm across his thigh, seeking out his hand and Steven gripped hers in both of his palms, massaging her fingers. It was times like these that Steven felt truly, and completely, without pretext, happy. When Jackie was silent and close, letting him enjoy something that she had no interest in. It made Steven think that what they were doing could actually last.

Steven pressed a kiss to Jackie's temple, squeezing her hand between his own. Jackie sighed, looking up to him. She brought her free hand to entwine with their joined fingers and sighed. "I'm sorry for being such a spoiled little bitch earlier, Steven."

"You may be spoiled," Steven started, looking out over the drag strip. "But don't call yourself a bitch, Jackie."

"Well, I'm still sorry." Jackie pressed her cheek to Steven's shoulder, their sides so close, they appeared to be glued together.

"Don't worry about it, Doll," Steven replied, angling his face to meet her mouth. Jackie met his kiss, sighing against him.

The sun had nearly set when the Miss Wisconsin Beauty Pageant was announced and Steven let Jackie lead him down to the bleachers without complaint.

Jackie looped her arm around Steven's waist, slipping her fingers into the back pocket of his jeans to cup his butt, as they neared the pit and Steven pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. A group of girls in bikini's loitered around the awards stage and Jackie paused. "I can't believe this is the beauty pageant. I look way better in a bikini than these heifers."

Steven's gaze slid over the barely clad girls before him. The air was steadily cooling as the sun set and all the girl's skin was covered in goose flesh, their nipples hard beneath their tie-dyed bikini tops. Blood rushed to his crotch once more and his fingers stroked Jackie's arm, moving up her shoulder to caress her neck. "Of course you do, Jackie."

"That one has cellulite, look how disgusting. She would never make it in Miss USA." Jackie said, pointing to a blonde with perhaps the best ass Steven had had the pleasure of seeing in a while. Cellulite, or no, Steven stared in appreciation. He put it to his lack of action, his lack of release through the stroke of another. Jackie guided them down the pit, sighing as they neared the end. She stopped, swinging around to stand before Steven. She pressed her body full against his and offered her mouth, angling her chin, and sighing when Steven kissed her. Her eyes remained closed for a second after Steven withdrew from her. "Steven, this is worse than when I tried out to be Miss Dairy Princess."

"You wanna get out of here?" Steven asked, his hands dipping to cup her ass. His pelvis rocked into hers and Steven knew that she felt how he had hardened in his jeans. Jackie's arms tightened around him and a blush colored her cheeks. "Come on, Jackie, let's go."

"Ok," Jackie met his pace as they nearly ran from the pit towards the entrance to the Dragaway. Steven let her pass through the turnstiles first, staring at the way she filled out her jeans, and groaned out loud, pulling her roughly towards where he had parked the Lincoln near the back of the lot. Jackie's palm was sweaty in his and they bolted across the asphalt.

Steven pulled Jackie to the drivers side of the Lincoln, opening the door and letting her get into the car first, barely getting the door closed before Jackie pounced, pressing her mouth to his lasciviously. He dropped the Lincolns keys to the floorboard. Her fingers wound into his curls and Steven grabbed at her hips, drawing her to his lap. Jackie moaned, pressing her core against his crotch. Steven nipped at her lip, his hands drawing the hem of her shirt up.

Jackie pulled away, her eyes heavily lidded with desire. "Wait." She peered around them, out the windows. "What if someone comes out and sees?"

"No one will see," Steven said, pulling at the hem of her shirt. Their body heat had started to fog the windows and Jackie peered around at the other cars parked around them. Steven's hands slid up her shirt, curling around to cup her shoulder blades. He kissed her throat, rolling his hips under her. Jackie moaned softly and Steven pulled at the hem of her shirt again, succeeding in pulling it off her body. Steven drew back, letting his gaze rake her form. "God, Jackie, you're so beautiful."

"Take off your shirt, Steven," Jacked demanded, pulling at the hem of his t-shirt. "I want to feel your body."

Steven ripped his shirt over his head, dropping it to the seat beside them. Jackie leaned in, capturing him in a passionate kiss again, her tongue rolling across the roof of his mouth. Her hands came to rest on his chest, her thumbs circling his nipples and Steven reached around to unclasp her bra, drawing the sheer lace down her arms. His mouth covered one of the soft mounds, drawing her nipple into his mouth, and Jackie gasped with pleasure, her hands cradling the back of his head. Steven's tongue rolled over the rigid nipple, the feel of Jackie's hands pulling the hairs at the nape of his neck echoing down his body into his dick.

"Kiss me," Jackie insisted, pulling harder at his hair. Steven released her nipple with a pop, sighing into her mouth. Their tongues pressed together, and Jackie angled her head, granting Steven deeper access.

A fine sheen of sweat had covered their bodies when Jackie jerked away. She rocked her hips over his pelvis, panting heavily. Steven watched her hands dip to his waist, her fingers toying with his belt. He didn't stop her as she slid the belt from the buckle, undoing the button and fly. Steven felt like his heart was in his throat and he looked up at her face. She'd never touched him below the belt, not since that night at The Overlook when he had rejected her advances. Jackie chewed on her lower lip, her eyes flitting up to meet his gaze, and then back to his crotch. She reached her hand into his pants, her fingers stroking his bare skin.

"You're not wearing underwear," Jackie stated breathily, as her hand sought out his member unimpeded. Her fingertips made contact with the head of his cock and Steven felt his eyes drape closed. His head fell back to rest on the back of the seat and Jackie reached further into his jeans, stroking the length of him softly.

"God, Jackie," Steven moaned, gripping her face and kissing her fiercely. He had started to undo the button of her jeans when someone knocking loudly on the driver's side window interrupted them. Steven pulled Jackie against his body, shielding her from view and yelled at the group of teenage boys gathered outside, "Get the fuck out of here, man!"

"I told you, Steven!" Jackie cried.

The boys were laughing and pointing, rocking their hips and humping the air. Steven grabbed his t-shirt from the seat next to them and pressed it to Jackie's chest, moving her to the passengers seat. Jackie clutched it to her body, sinking low in her seat. He fished the Lincolns keys from the floorboard where they had fallen and started the car hurriedly, peeling out from the space, throwing the boys his middle finger as he fishtailed towards the exit. Jackie was panting, pushing her hair from her sweaty face. Once Steven had gotten them out of prying eyes, Jackie reached out and found her bra and shirt, quickly dressing.

"You ok, Doll?" Steven asked Jackie as he accelerated onto the highway. He reached across the seat to grasp her hand briefly, squeezing her fingers in his before releasing her. He pulled at his open jeans, attempting to button the fly with one hand.

"I'm fine," Jackie assured him, sliding across the bench seat to help him refasten his jeans and belt. She pressed a chaste kiss to his neck once she had finished, and let her hand come to a rest on his thigh.

"I still want to finish what we'd started," Steven announced, his cock uncomfortably swollen in his jeans.

Jackie smiled at him, her hand sweeping up and down his thigh. Her breath was warm on his cheek. "Oh, we will." She drew her legs up onto the seat, picking at his jeans. "I was going to ask you, if you'd stay the night tonight? With me?"

Steven's eyes grew wide and his throat suddenly grew as dry as the Sahara. He steered the car around a 18-Wheeler and felt his foot press harder on the accelerator. He shifted his weight, glancing in the rearview mirror at the semi's headlights as they flew further away from it. "You want me to stay the night? All night?"

"Yeah, Steven," Jackie said, taking a deep breath. "My parents left for Milwaukee after dinner. It's just going to be us. Alone."

"I- I mean, yeah-" Steven started.

"I was hoping you'd say yes!" Jackie exclaimed, cupping her hand over his crotch. Steven rocked into her palm, his free hand dropping to wrap around her shoulders. He pulled her close, risking looking away from the road to press a quick kiss to her mouth. Jackie pressed herself close to him, nuzzling into his neck.

Steven came up quick on a pair of pickup's matching pace, tailgating first one than the other, swerving from lane to lane. "Fucking hell, why is everyone driving so fucking slow?"

-x-

Steven pulled up to the garage before Jackie's house, turning the key back in the ignition. He turned to Jackie, pulling back when she tried to kiss him. Jackie furrowed her brow, sitting back in her seat. "What's wrong, Steven?"

"It's just," Steven began, lifting a hand to trace the bow of her upper lip with his thumb. "You gotta tell me right now where to stop, Doll."

Jackie kissed the pad of his thumb, reaching up to grasp his hand in her own. "I want to say everything, Steven, that I want everything, but- But I don't want us to move too fast, Steven. I don't want to make a mistake with you."

"So…" Steven said, his lips pursed into an O. "Just sleeping, than?"

"Perhaps more," Jackie whispered meeting his gaze. "If that's alright?"

"Whatever you want, Doll," Steven whispered back, drawing her face to his for a kiss.

Jackie pulled away, eyeing the dark house. "Let's go inside."

Steven felt like he was walking through some alternate universe as he followed Jackie up the porch steps into her house. He kept his hands pressed firmly in his pockets, not meeting her gaze as he trailed her through the foyer. It all seemed surreal, he thought, as he followed her into the kitchen and took a seat at the island. To be sitting in her parent's pristine kitchen, the bright florescent lights glinting off the crystal fruit bowl in the center of the island and Steven had never felt more poor and undeserving. Jackie took two tall glasses from the cabinet and filled them with water.

"Are you hungry?" Jackie asked, shifting awkwardly on her feet from across the island. Steven sipped at the water she set before him and shook his head no, looking down at the tiled counter.

Silence spread between them and Jackie spun her water glass on the counter. Her eyes pinged around the kitchen, finally coming to rest on Steven. He stared back at her, full of Zen. He wouldn't let her know how uncomfortable he was with the whole situation. He was too scruffy, too dirty, and he had actually robbed this place before, stealing Jackie's locket three years ago. He didn't deserve to be here. Hell, he didn't deserve Jackie, once he thought of it. She was too unspoiled compared to his juvy record. Jackie sighed and said, "I'm kind of nervous."

"Why?" Steven asked, feeling his heartbeat quicken.

Jackie came around the island. Steven turned on his stool, reaching out to place his hands on her hips. Jackie positioned her hands on his shoulders, pressing her body between his knees. "I've never had a sleepover, with a boy."

Steven was quiet. He had a feeling what was coming next, and he sighed heavily, his thumbs extending under the hem of her shirt and stroking her skin.

"Have you, Steven?"

"Have I what?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Have you ever stayed the night with a girl before? The whole night, I mean. I know you're not a virgin."

Steven met her gaze. "Yes."

"Oh," Jackie said, disappointment creeping into her voice. Her chin dropped to touch her chest and her hands stilled in his curls.

"Hey," Steven reached out, hooking his thumb under her chin and drawing her face up. His eyes swept over her face, admiring her. He chewed on his tongue and said lowly, painfully, "I'm nervous too."

"You are?" Jackie whispered, her lips spreading in a broad smile. Her fingertips scratched at his scalp and Steven looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes, Jackie, ok?" Steven said gruffly. His hands dropped to her butt, squeezing her cheeks tightly. "Now, shut up and kiss me."

They kissed passionately, both soon forgetting their nerves as they fell into a comfortable rhythm. Steven stood from his stool, sending it falling back onto the floor with a clatter as he hooked his hands at the back of Jackie's knees, lifting her to sit on the island. Jackie spread her knees wide, pulling Steven tightly to her body, rocking her hips against him.

Steven's hands pulled at Jackie's shirt, pulling it up over her head. Her hands left his body to reach back to her bra, unclasping the hooks and letting it drift down her arms. Jackie hooked her legs about Steven's hips, pushing his jacket from his shoulders. Steven cupped Jackie's breasts, teasing the nipples to stiff peaks.

"Steven," Jackie said, as he bent to kiss the column of her throat. He sucked at her pulse point. "Let's go upstairs."

"Okay," Steven moaned against her neck, picking her up and turning out of the kitchen. They kissed all the way down the hall, bouncing off the walls as Steven blindly walked towards the foyer. Steven lost his shirt by the base of the stairs. He pressed Jackie up against the wall, drawing a nipple into his mouth, working it between his teeth. Jackie yelped in pleasure, and pushed Steven away. She slid down his body, and grasped his hand. Her eyes were round, the pupils dilated and Steven felt a primal urge overtake his body.

"Come on," Jackie panted, starting up the stairs. She pulled him behind her, taking the stairs at a brisk pace, her breasts bouncing in an appeasing way that made Steven want to press her down on the stairs and ravish her. Steven stopped her at her closed bedroom door, pressing his front to her back. His dick fit perfectly with her butt and Steven rocked into her. He kissed her throat, hot open-mouthed strokes, and his fingers trailing down her torso to undo the button and fly of her jeans, dipping into the waistband and down to cup her warm sex over her panties. Jackie moaned loudly, grappling at the doorknob. "Oh, my God."

Jackie pushed open the door, nearly tumbling to the white plush carpet as she lost her footing. She turned back to Steven, a deep red coloring her neck and cheeks. "Whoops."

Steven chuckled, following her into the room, flipping on the light switch. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against the wood to stare at Jackie unabashedly. His eyes drifted down her body, memorizing the way she looked just in this moment, hair frizzed from his fingers running through the locks and the way the blush settled over her chest. Her lips were pleasantly swollen. Her clasped hands rose to her belly button and she watched him timidly. Steven pushed off the door, closing the distance between them. His hands cupped her face, pulling her close.

They kissed deeply, Steven moving Jackie back towards her bed. Jackie's knees hit the edge of the mattress and they toppled back, stuffed animals and flower pillows cascading to the floor.

Jackie yanked at Steven's belt, undoing the buckle and pulling it from the loops. She made quick work of his button and fly, and Steven blindly kicked at his boots, pushing them off his feet to fall to the floor. Steven kissed his way down her body, licking her skin between caresses. His hands gripped the waist of her jeans and he drew up onto his knees to pull the denim down her legs. Jackie watched him with wide eyes as he reached to her panties, hooking the elastic band over his pointer fingers and pulling them slowly down her thighs.

"What are you doing?" Jackie asked as Steven dropped her underwear over the side of the bed. His fingers stroked her ankles, working their way up her calves to the insides of her thighs.

"Scoot up, up on the pillows," Steven said. Jackie did as he said and Steven settled more comfortably on the mattress. "Yeah, like that."

Steven eased her legs apart, his hands stroking the soft underside of her knees. Jackie watched him cautiously, her hands flitting over her stomach and around her pelvis. "What are you doing, Steven?"

"Do you want me to stop?" Steven asked, staring down at her glistening sex. He licked his lips and said, "God, you're beautiful."

Steven came up to her face, ghosting a kiss on her mouth, teasing her just enough to draw her up off the pillows. Jackie tried to deepen the kiss and Steven pulled away before she was able to, moving to kiss her again, and again pulling away when she pressed her tongue to his lips. She pouted up at him, settling into the pillows and Steven smirked, dropping to kiss her neck, across her collarbone and down to her breasts. Her skin was fiery on his mouth and Steven kissed between the valley of her breasts, nipping the skin in his teeth. Jackie's breath hitched in her throat. Steven paused over the peak of her nipple, his eyes staring up at Jackie as she gripped the comforter on her bed in her fingers.

Her skin was soft and tasted of nothing he had ever tasted before. Steven let the flat of his tongue run over one nipple, and then the other. Jackie's hips rose off the bed and Steven worked his way across the planes of her firm stomach. Jackie's hand reached for his hair and Steven heard a gasp leave her when he slid between her thighs, hooking his arms around her legs and anchoring her to the bed.

"Is this ok?" Steven asked, glancing up at Jackie. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly and she met his eye. She nodded her head slowly, her hands returning to grasp the comforter.

Steven spread her delicate folds, marveling at the pink flesh, and Jackie shivered in his hold as cold air washed over her bundle of nerves. His hips pressed into the mattress, dick harder than he'd ever remembered it being in his life, and he had a brief fear that he would bust his load right here and now, like a pubescent teenager. He flexed his hips, briefly alleviating the ache that had settled over his dick. The scent of her arousal filled the air around him, a sweet, flowery scent, and Steven nosed his way down, licking her lightly.

Jackie gasped, her hands falling to his head. She didn't grip at him, but let her hands rest heavily on him. A flood of wetness coated his tongue and Steven licked her again, savoring the clean taste of her. Jackie whimpered, the sound filling the room. Her thighs fell open wider and Steven pushed his body up the bed. He caught her clit with the tip of his tongue and focused on the bundle of nerves as it hardened in his mouth.

Her back arched up off the bed and Steven pressed soft kisses to the insides of her thighs, working his way back to her core. Jackie trembled in his arms and he sucked on her clit, lightly at first and then harder, before releasing her.

"Oh, God," Jackie keened. Her fingers spasmed over his hair, gripping at the locks and releasing him, traveling up her body to cup her breasts.

Steven uncoiled one of his arms from her body, bringing his fingers to tease her opening. He kissed her slit as he would kiss her mouth, alternating pressure and slipping two fingers into her tight pussy. Jackie's hips rocked against his face. She brought herself up onto her elbows and stared openly as Steven gave her everything he had. She moaned from somewhere deep inside her chest, her head falling back on her neck. His hips pressed into the bed, his dick twitching in his jeans.

Coiling his fingers, he stroked the inside of her, he searched for the bundle of nerves located inside of her, sighing when he found the tight wad of her g-spot. Jackie's knees clamped around his head, and she moaned lustfully, dropping back onto the bed. Steven focused on her g-spot, rubbing the pad of his finger over the bundle of nerves, his mouth sucking lightly on her clit. Her taste flooded his mouth and she cried out as she came, her walls clenching around his fingers, convulsing as she rode out her orgasm.

Jackie shivered and Steven licked her from top to bottom. His fingers were soaked with her wetness and he teased her entrance. Jackie's knees twitched and Steven reached up to grasp one of her breasts in his hand, tweaking the nipple in his fingers. Jackie covered his hand with hers, hips gyrating against his face as he sucked at her clit eagerly. She reached down with her free hand and grabbed a fistful of his curls, moaning a "Steven" that nearly sent him over the edge.

Jackie let a soft curse fall from her lips and another rush of her essence coated him as she dug her heels into his back, crying out her second orgasm.

Drawing away, Steven looked up at Jackie's face. She had draped an arm over her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly. A sheen of sweat dampened her skin and Steven withdrew his fingers from her body. Her limbs were languid, splayed across the bed and Steven crawled up her body, kissing her, pulling her arm away from her eyes. The taste of her arousal and sweat on his tongue was intoxicating and Steven didn't think he could have ever been more turned on than he was at this exact moment. Jackie had never looked more beautiful as she did cushioned in her pillows, her dark hair a halo around her face.

"Oh, my God," Jackie gasped. She cradled his face, drawing him down to push her tongue into his mouth. Steven nearly came at the thought of Jackie tasting herself on his tongue, his hips dropping to press against her bare core. He could feel the heat of her through his jeans and moaned into her mouth. Jackie pulled away, licking her lips. "I want to taste you, Steven."

Steven groaned, rolling over when Jackie pushed at his shoulders. She straddled his hips, bending at the waist to kiss his mouth. And suddenly, Steven remembered a story that Kelso had told the guys. About how Jackie had taken him into her mouth, how she hadn't wanted to, and how Kelso had disrespected her by coming in her mouth.

Jackie yanked his pants down his body, and Steven felt self-conscious as Jackie stared at his member, her face unreadable. She took him in her hand, her thumb rubbing just below the slit of his head, drawing out a bead of pearly pre-cum.

"Jackie, you don't have to do this," Steven bit out. The sight of her, naked, holding his dick in her hand, and sweaty after orgasming twice was almost too much. After all the fantasies he had played out in his head, rubbing one out to the thought of her sucking him off, Steven wasn't sure how long he'd be able to last. And lasting only twenty seconds would be the most embarrassing thing that would ever happen to him.

"I know," Jackie replied, getting comfortable between his knees. She kissed the tip of his dick, her lips shiny with the drop of pre-cum when she drew away. Jackie licked her lips and Steven felt his body grow tight with anticipation. "I want to."

-x-

Steven was in euphoric bliss.

He panted out his orgasm, the heels of his palms pressed to his eyes. He felt like he was floating above his body, looking down on the best moment of his life so far.

"Steven?" Jackie lay across his body, her hips away from his. She kissed his chest and up his neck. "Steven?"

"Yeah?" Steven gasped.

"Are you happy?" Jackie asked.

"What?" Steven started, his hands dropping away from his eyes. He looked at Jackie, her chin propped on his chest, and fisted handfuls of her hair. "Are you joking?"

"You just, you didn't make a lot of noise, it was hard to tell," Jackie explained. Steven pulled her closer and kissed her deeply.

"Yes, I'm happy." Steven assured her, holding her face close to his.

Jackie beamed down at him, pecking his mouth. She came up to her knees, energetic, bouncing on the mattress. Steven settled into her pillows, ready to sleep, letting his eyes drift closed. Jackie slapped his chest, startling him. "Steven, wake up!"

"What?" Steven groaned, opening his eyes to look up at her.

"We need to shower first, before bed." Jackie said, pulling at his hand as she stood from the bed. "Come on."

"Together?" Steven sputtered, sitting up.

"Don't you want to?" Jackie asked, smiling, coming back to stand at the side of the bed. She waved their clasped hands between them and pulled gently.

Steven was quiet, following her into the very pink tiled bathroom. Jackie drew back the curtain, starting the tap. The room hadn't changed all that much in the time it'd been since Steven had last been here, that night, so long ago, when he had broken into their house and stolen Jackie's locket. He leaned against the counter, watching Jackie start the shower and test the water with her fingers. She shook her sweat-dampened hair from her face, sliding it behind her ear. He was still in a bit of awe that he had finally gotten somewhere sexual with Jackie. After so long of watching her from the sidelines, and then nearly two months of fooling around, growing more and more frustrated, it was too much to think it had happened. He wanted more of her.

Jackie stepped into the shower, reaching out for Steven to take her hand. He followed, his eyes locked on her own. Steven wrenched the curtain closed behind him and stared in awe as Jackie stepped beneath the spray of water. She looked to him self-consciously, pushing her wet hair back from her face.

Closing the space between them, Steven kissed her tenderly, a mixture of their essences and the warm water filling his mouth. They showered swiftly, pausing to kiss the other between lathering their hair and rinsing the soap from their bodies. They fooled around again, Steven drawing another orgasm from Jackie, supporting her as she trembled against him. The water had grown cold when they finally drew away from one another. Jackie offered him a fluffy pink towel and Steven dried himself quickly.

Steven dressed back into his jeans, perching on the edge of the bed as Jackie dressed in a long white gown, brushing her hair out over her shoulders. She towel dried her hair, talking endlessly as she moved, about ABBA, and school, about cheerleading and her parents. Jackie took Steven's towel from him, disappearing into the bathroom and returning empty handed. She opened her bedroom window a sliver, turning out the lights and Steven slid back to lean against the headboard as Jackie showed him a part of herself he had never expected to see. It was trusting and honest and it scared him. She stood before her bookshelf, flipping through her vinyl, before flipping on her Hi-Fi, setting it to WFPP.

Jackie pulled back the covers on the bed, and Steven lifted his hips, pulling the covers down and sliding beneath them. Jackie climbed in after him, sighing as they settled into a comfortable spoon. Steven wrapped her up in his arms, his eyes drifting closed as Jackie's voice dropped to a murmur. She threaded her fingers with his, pulling his arm around her and between her breasts. She pushed back so that their bodies were melded together, and Steven slid his knee between her legs, relaxing into her body. Steven's thumb stroked the back of Jackie's hand, lulling her to silence and they drifted off together, sleeping more peacefully than either had in a long time.

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 **A/N: So, I wrote some smut. Hopefully it meets expectations. It's not my forte, but I mean, it's about time Jackie received an orgasm from her man. Also, I would like to correct an err on my part: "Jacks" was meant to only be a name that Kelso would call Jackie, not Steven, in my last chapter. I hate the name "Jacks" and completely agree with my reviewer that it does not at all fit her character. I feel like Kelso would call her that, because honestly, he's my least favorite character, next to Donna, and he would have an annoying name for her like "Jacks". I hope you enjoy this chapter! Be easy on me. All my work goes un-Beta'd.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

 _And when I go away,_

 _I know my heart can stay with my love, it's understood._

 _It's in the hands of my love, and my love does it good._

 _Wo wo wo wo wo wo, my love does it good._

 _-My Love,_ Paul McCartney & Wings

November 1977,

Jackie Burkhart's Extremely Pink Bedroom

" _That was another great hit on the Paul McCartney & Wings rock-block, here on WFPP. It's a beautiful Saturday morning, the forecast is showing a chance of snow flurries later in the day, so bring in your pets, and drive safely. Here's another one from Paul."_

Jackie's eyes opened a crack, settling on her radio across the room. She yawned, stretching out like a starfish, across the empty mattress. The room was deliciously cold from the cracked window, and Jackie didn't think she had slept as soundly, or peacefully, as she had the night before. Curled up, in Steven's arms, feeling Steven's body pressed against her own, the sound of Steven's soft snores-

"Steven?" Jackie gasped, sitting upright in bed. She looked across the expanse of her room, noting his boots lying haphazardly at the foot of her bed.

"Hmm?" Came as a grunt from her right and Jackie spun around, finding Steven on the floor between her bed and the wall, curled up in her comforter and her flower pillows wedged under his head.

"Why are you down there?" Jackie asked, leaning over the edge of the bed. Her pointer finger traced down the center of his face and Steven opened his eyes blearily. He rubbed his hands over his cheeks, groaning loudly as his body began to wake.

"You're a freaking bed hog, Jackie," Steven mumbled, dropping his hands and looking up at her. "Sometime around four, you pushed me off the bed and wouldn't let me back in, so I made a nice little pallet here."

Jackie smiled down at him, resting her chin on her arm. His hair was sticking up on the left side, and his blue eyes were unguarded so early. He looked back at her without Zen, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You're so cute in the morning, Steven."

"Shut up, Jackie," Steven said, the smile growing and eyes sparkling. He reached up to her, pulling her from the bed with a firm jerk. Jackie yelped, laughing, as Steven settled her on top of him, wrapping her in the comforter. He kissed the top of her head, entwining his arms around her. Jackie relaxed against his chest, her head perched under his chin, and sighed contentedly. Steven's breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling evenly.

Jackie tried to settle in, tried to close her eyes and convince herself that she could fall asleep again. But just as she got comfortable, her arm wedged between hers and Steven's bodies went numb, sending pins and needles down her fingers in sharp shooting pains. The radio was too loud now to go back to sleep, and Jackie had the lyrics to _Band On The Run_ playing on repeat in her mind. Steven's body heat was stifling under the comforter and Jackie tried to stretch out, pushing Steven into the wall. He pushed back at her, wrapping his arms around Jackie in an attempt to get her to lie still.

"Jackie," Steven muttered into her hair, his hot breath rolling across her cheek. Jackie shifted awkwardly. Steven tightened his hold around her. "Jackie. Stop. Moving."

"It's so hot, Steven," Jackie whined, pushing back against him so there was a breath of space between them. "I'm starting to glisten."

Steven reached out, fisting a handful of her nightgown. He yanked it up her legs, bunching the fabric about her waist, and attempting to pull it higher. "Well, you can take this thing off, see if that helps."

"Steven!" Jackie said, chuckling. Her hands pushed the nightgown down her legs, suddenly embarrassed.

"What's wrong?" Steven leaned over her, his hand resting on her belly. "It's not like I didn't get a really good look at you naked last night."

Jackie took a deep breath, avoiding his gaze. Her cheeks burned and she couldn't tell if it was from their combined body heat, or something else entirely. "I have morning breath, Steven."

"Ok?" Steven said. "I do too."

Steven made to kiss her and Jackie covered her mouth with her hands. She shook her head vigorously from side and side. "No, don't! I don't want you to think I taste bad."

Steven's head dropped to her neck, kissing her throat. "Come on, Jackie. Just one kiss."

"No!" Jackie said. Steven's fingers drifted across her ribs, pressing and tickling up and down her sides. Deep belly laughs escaped her and Steven pinned her down, smiling down at her as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "No, Steven! Stop!"

The shrill ringing of Jackie's phone was her only saving grace. Steven, distracted, stopped in his assault and Jackie pushed back at his shoulders, effectively knocking him off of her. She pounced across the bed, breathlessly saying "hello" into the receiver. Steven latched on to an ankle, yanking her backwards across the mattress and Jackie screeched, dropping the phone.

"Shh!" She motioned at him, pulling the receiver up by its cord. Steven arched an eyebrow at her, standing from his pallet bed. He stretched, cracking his knuckles and disappeared into Jackie's bathroom.

Jackie pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Jackie, drop whatever you're doing, cause I'm on my way to come get you," Michael's voice yelled at her. There was a loud crash on the other end of the phone, a dog's deep, bellowing bark, followed closely by Michael and one of his brothers yelling at one another, and Jackie held the phone away from her ear, waiting for Michael to come back to the line. His voice was wheezing when he finally came back to the phone. "Sorry, Jacks. I gotta go pick up Donna and Forman first, but then I'm coming to get you. My uncle's ski cabin, free beer, hot tub, it's all happening!"

"What?" Jackie said, sitting up on the bed. Her eyes flitted up to the closed bathroom door. "No, I don't want to go to your uncle's ski cabin."

"Awe, come on, Jackie, it'll be so much fun!" Michael said.

"Why aren't you bringing Fez and Steven?" Jackie asked, suspicious. "What about your girlfriend?"

Michael sighed, a great exhalation that echoed down the phone like static. "Laurie and I, well, let's just say, we're on a bit of a break."

"Michael, no," Jackie said, looking up at her closed bathroom door. "I only want to go if everyone can go."

"Well, I called Hyde's place but his dad said he wasn't there, probably at work or something," Michael explained. "Besides, he'll just drink all the beer."

Jackie chewed on her lower lip, wrapping the phone cord around her middle finger. "I don't know, I don't think it's a good idea."

Steven exited the bathroom, his hair decidedly less crazy, and crossed the plush carpet towards her. Grabbing his belt from the floor, he yanked it through his belt loops, eyes fixed on Jackie. He plopped at the edge of the bed, jolting her.

"But Jacks!" Michael moaned into the phone. "Please? It's not the same without you. I just, I just want us to be friends again. Please, Jacks? Please?"

"Ok, but on one condition," Jackie said, growing frustrated. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What, yes, anything!" Michael yelled, voice cracking.

Jackie took a deep breath, untangling the phone cord from her finger. "Don't call me 'Jacks', ok?"

"Ok, yeah," Michael agreed. "I'll be there in an hour."

Jackie replaced the receiver on the cradle and pursed her mouth. Steven reached for his boots, sliding them onto his feet. He looked at her over his shoulder, "Who was that?"

Jackie met his eye, unsure of how to answer him.

Steven nodded his head. "Kelso."

"Yes," Jackie whispered. She slid across the bed to rest her head on Steven's shoulder. She wrapped her arms about his middle and pressed her body close. "He said he, and Donna and Eric are going to Michael's uncle's cabin up in the woods."

"And you said you'd go?" Steven asked. His voice had closed off, growing neutral, and Jackie squeezed his middle tighter. He patted her clasped hands at his stomach and pulled her off of him, standing from the bed. "Where's my shirt?"

"Steven, I won't go," Jackie said, standing. She followed Steven out of her room and down the hall. "I don't really want to go, anyway!"

"Jackie, you can do whatever you want," Steven said. His voice was still neutral, still calm and it was starting to scare Jackie. She didn't know what to do with calm. She followed him briskly down the stairs, waiting as Steven scooped up his t-shirt at the bottom of the staircase, slipping it over his head.

"Well, ok, so I won't go!" Jackie said, latching onto his arm. She stepped in front of him, blocking his way to the kitchen and pressed a kiss to his stubbled jaw. "Steven."

"It's alright, you can go," Steven said, extricating himself. He gripped her shoulders, placing a chaste kiss to her forehead. Jackie scowled at him as he retreated down the dark hall. He entered the kitchen, the door swinging after he passed and Jackie gritted her teeth.

Jackie followed behind him, palming the swinging door to the kitchen open to find him turning down the collar on his jacket. "Steven."

"What, Jackie?" Steven said, hooking his thumbs around his belt buckle. He was the Zen Master now, and Jackie crossed her arms tight across her chest. She felt her jaw grow tense with annoyance and she shook her head.

"I- Nothing, never mind," Jackie said, turning on her heel. She slapped the kitchen door open, heading back down the hall. Steven followed, a few paces behind, meeting her at the front door. He gave her a strange look, one Jackie couldn't place. It was like he was memorizing her, his eyes scanning over her face and body. Jackie shifted her weight, opening the front door, gripping the doorknob in a sweating palm. Waving her arm before her, she motioned to the cold outdoors. "Well, see you later then."

Steven opened his mouth, and snapped it closed again. He quirked an eyebrow and reached out to the door, pulling it out of Jackie's grasp and closing it softly. The heels of his boots echoed on the parquet floor, as he shuffled close, and Jackie jutted out her chin defiantly. Steven cupped her cheeks, leaning down to press a kiss to her mouth. He kissed her languidly, their eyes opening to meet the others as he drew away slightly. Jackie held his gaze, her arms at her sides as he pecked her mouth.

"You're so confusing, Steven," Jackie said once Steven pulled away. She looked into his blue eyes despairingly. "I don't understand you. Why do you keep closing down? You let me in, and then shut me out without any explanation."

"I know," Steven said. He didn't say anything more, pressing another lingering kiss to her mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed just as he drew back. "I gotta get to work, Jackie."

"That's it?" Jackie asked incredulously as Steven opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. "That's all you're going to say to me?"

Steven jogged down the porch steps, his hands dipping into his jacket pockets and producing his zippo and a pack of cigarettes. He placed one of the filtered butts between his lips and lit it, turning to walk backwards down the gravel. He exhaled a cloud of white smoke and Jackie scoffed. "Steven!"

"I'll see you later, Jackie," Steven called, swinging around to open the gate.

Jackie screamed in frustration, turning on her toe to enter the house. She slammed the door closed, letting out another shriek. She hurried up the stairs back to her bedroom. Oh, he'd see her later all right. After she spent all day with Michael at his uncle's ski cabin.

-x-

"What are we doing, Donna?" Jackie asked. She was perched in the back of the van, across the shag carpet from Donna. Fez and Eric were busy keeping Kelso company as they ascended into the mountains, towards the glorious ski cabin Michael had spent the first twenty minutes of their trip bragging about.

"What do you mean?" Donna asked, her propped knees swinging to and fro.

Jackie rolled her eyes, and thrust her thumb towards the front. "I know you know why Michael decided to drag us all up into the mountains in the middle of winter. Spill, Pinciotti!"

Donna sighed, letting her legs extend before her. She glanced up at the boys and then leaned close to Jackie, crossing her legs Indian style. "Well, Kelso is under the impression that he can impress you with the cabin, and then, y'know, you'll get back together. He's planning some game, like the Newlywed Game, or something, to win you over."

"Excuse me?" Jackie hissed.

"Yeah, well," Donna said, picking at the carpet. "It's not his best plan, but none of his plans are what you'd call 'best', so I don't know."

"How could you let him do this, Donna?" Jackie whispered, staring at Donna aghast.

Donna's hands rose. "Why do you think we're here, Jackie? We'll act as your buffer. Me and Eric."

"Really, Donna? You would do that for me?" Jackie cooed, pressing a hand to her heart.

"Yes," Donna said. Her eyes turned fiery and she stared Jackie down. "On one condition."

Jackie sank back in her seat, wary of the evil look overtaking Donna's lumberjack face. Jackie's brows furrowed. She considered her oldest girl friend for a moment, biting out a "What?"

Donna glanced up to the front of the van again. She slid across the bed, coming to sit by Jackie on the opposite wall. "You have to tell me the truth."

"Donna, I never tell the truth," Jackie rebutted.

Donna's eyes narrowed. She pinched Jackie's thigh, twisting her flesh roughly between her pointer and thumb.

"Ok, ok!" Jackie acquiesced, slapping Donna's hand away. She rubbed her smarting skin in soothing circles. "I'll you the truth. Geez!"

Donna shifted her weight, turning her upper body to face Jackie. Her index finger rose and she pointed accusingly at her friend. "What's really going on with you and Hyde?"

"What?" Jackie sputtered, her heart racing. She laughed nervously and shook her hair over her shoulders. "Nothing is going on with me and Steven."

"Ok, fine. Have fun fending off Kelso," Donna said, moving to scoot back across the carpet.

"No! Wait!" Jackie cried, clinging onto Donna. Eric and Fez peered at the two girls, and then back to the front, resuming their conversation. "Ok, Donna, ok?"

Donna settled back into her seat, her arms crossing over her chest. "I'm listening."

Jackie took a deep breath. She shook out the tension settling over her shoulders. She spread her hands before her, presenting a great gift of information to Donna. "Steven and I are in love."

"In love?" Donna repeated cynically.

"Yes." Jackie met Donna's eye. Her voice was a hiss in the back of her throat. "We've been together, secretly, for a few months. Well, we're not putting any labels on it."

"What?" Donna cried, her voice carrying up to the boys again. She waved her hands at them, waiting till they turned away again. Donna grabbed onto Jackie's arm, pulling her roughly to her side. "You and Hyde? You two are together? For real? But Hyde hates you!"

"No, Donna, we're in love," Jackie said, instantly regretting telling Donna as the Amazon's face opened into a doofus smile, gaping like a fish. She grasped Donna's forearm. "Donna, you can't tell anyone. Promise! Not even Eric!"

"I won't tell. Scouts honor. Oh wow, this explains so much!" Donna exclaimed.

"What does it explain?" Jackie asked curiously. "Haven't we been pretty good at keeping it secret?"

Donna tucked her leg up under her, leaning close to Jackie. "Yeah, you have, but I've been suspicious for a while now. And then… Well, the other night, Hyde was with us all in the basement, I think you were at cheer practice, or something, and Kelso made some comment about how he misses how limber you are. It was incredibly sexist and can I just say _ew,_ if what Kelso said about how you two used to do it is true, that's disgusting. Anyway, instead of Hyde ignoring the comment, like he usually would, he punched Kelso, right in the eye!"

"He did what?" Jackie exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean, he made some bullshit excuse about how you weren't there to defend yourself, but his eyes were crazy eyes! I've never seen him like that. And he spent the rest of the evening scowling at everyone and grunting." Donna leaned back, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Oh, man, I knew it!"

"Steven defended my honor?" Jackie cried, hot tears springing up in her eyes. She pressed a hand to her heart and waved her other hand before her eyes, hoping to dispel the tears before they fell. "He's just so sweet."

"I don't know about that," Donna said. "Kelso did have to wear an eye patch for like a week."

"Yeah, yeah, what's new?" Jackie said dismissively. "Oh, I wish Steven were here! I wish I'd never agreed to come on this stupid trip!" Jackie turned towards the front. "Michael! Turn this van around! NOW!"

"What?" Kelso said, glancing at her over his shoulder. He gesticulated out the windshield. "But, we're almost there!"

"Michael!" Jackie said threateningly. She hurried across the van's bed on her knees, shoving Fez aside so she could take his place at the console. "Now!"

"Jackie, there's free beer," Eric said, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be ok."

"No, I need to get back to Point Place!" Jackie whined.

"You'll get back there," Eric said consolingly, shaking her shoulder with his thin fingers. "Once we finish all the beer."

-x-

Jackie finished her third beer, tossing it into the corner of Michael's uncle's ice shack. She had at first refused to leave the van, resorting to anger with the rest of the gang, when Michael revealed they weren't actually going to an amazing cabin in the woods, but a dirty, grimy ice shack that smelt like fish. As the cold seeped into her limbs, she had caved, rushing from the van and into the shack. They were gathered around a hole in the ice, Jackie wedged between Fez and Michael, purely for body heat. Donna and Eric were giving one another Eskimo kisses, Eric's hands wrapped around a fishing pole.

"Ugh, get a room," Jackie muttered, taking the proffered beer from Fez.

"Yes, get a room!" Fez agreed, grabbing a new beer for himself. "There will be no making out, if Fez cannot make out."

"Hey, I know!" Michael said, jerking up straight from his position on the bench beside Jackie. "Let's play a game!"

"A game?" Jackie sneered, pulling the tab off her can and sipping from her beer. Her teeth chattered together and she pulled the sleeves of her jacket over her hands. She met Donna's cutting stare.

"Yeah, a game! It'll help distract us from the bitter cold." Michael left Jackie's side and she whimpered, leaning closer to Fez.

"What game?" Donna asked, her clasped hands between her knees. "Not the Newlywed Game."

"Donna." Michael ground out. "What the hell." He shifted from foot to foot. "What about, Truth or Dare?" Michael said, fixing his dark eyes on Jackie.

"No, Kelso, no one wants to see you embarrass yourself trying to make out with Jackie." Donna said.

"Donna!" Michael wailed. "Ix nay on the plan-jay."

"You are terrible at Pig Latin," Donna said, chuckling. She grabbed her beer from her feet and brought it up to her mouth. Pausing, she said excitedly, "Oh, I know! We can play Two Truths, One Lie! Everyone has to tell two truths and one lie and then we have to figure out which one is the lie. Whoever is wrong in their guess has to drink."

"We already know pretty much everything about one another, Donna," Jackie said.

Donna gave Jackie a mischievous look. "Oh, not everything Jackie. I don't think everyone knows everything about you."

"Oh, I do, I know everything about Jackie," Michael said, taking his seat next to her again.

"No, Kelso," Donna said, pointedly. "I don't think you do."

Jackie glared at Donna, reaching out and yanking the fishing pole from Eric's hand. She shoved in down the ice hole, an angry shriek leaving her. Donna settled back on the bench, her eyes round.

"What the hell, Jackie?" Eric cried. He looked down at his hands, pressing his fingers to his palms. "That really hurt."

"Here," Donna said, placing a new beer in Eric's hand. "The cold will help."

"Oh, Donna, my precious butterfly," Eric sighed, wrapping his fingers around the beer can. He looked up to the wood slat ceiling and let his eyes drift shut. "You are the _best_ girlfriend. Ever."

"So, who wants to go first?" Michael said.

"I will!" Fez hollered. He took a swig from his can and belched. "Ok. Here goes. First: I am a Prince in my country. Second: My mother is actually country super-star Tanya Tucker. Third: I have made it to first base with Caroline from my Spanish class."

"Fez," Jackie said, turning to face him. "You have to tell two truths. You can't tell three lies."

"I did tell two truths," Fez insisted.

"Ok, well I say the lie is he got anywhere with that chick," Michael threw in. Eric and Donna nodded their heads in agreement.

Jackie took a long pull from her beer. "I think it's Tanya Tucker."

"Jackie is correct, everyone else, DRINK!" Fez yelled, hoisting his beer in the air.

"What? Fez, you're a prince?" Donna exclaimed. She brought her beer to her lips, and took her drink. "Are you really a prince?"

Fez scoffed. "Are you really a prince?" He repeated, gazing around at the others with a goofy grin on his face.

"What?" Donna shook her head. "No, Fez-"

"Ok, my turn!" Jackie said loudly. "Ok. First: My middle name is actually Susan. Second: I was voted best legs by the football team. Third: My favorite pizza topping is mushrooms."

"Oh gross!" Eric made a gagging noise, choking on his swallow of beer. "Mushrooms? I say it's the mushrooms. No one in their right mind could like mushrooms."

Fez waved his hand through the air, sloshing beer over his hand. "No, no, it's your middle name."

"Right," Donna said. "Isn't it like Beulah, or something?"

"It's your middle name," Michael agreed, chortling. "Beulah."

"Eric, drink!" Jackie yelled over Michael's voice.

Eric laughed, taking a large swallow. "I'd forgotten about Beulah."

"Shut up!" Jackie said.

"You brought it up!" Eric argued.

"You do have excellent legs," Fez stated, his head cocked to the side, admiring her legs. He took another gulp of beer. "They go for like miles."

"I know. I really do have excellent legs," Jackie said. She finished her beer, tossing it into the corner. The pile of beer cans was steadily growing. "How many more beers are there? I'm losing feeling in my toes."

Michael bumped shoulders with Jackie. "I can warm you up, in my van. What do you say?"

"Get bent," Jackie replied, turning away.

Donna had opened her mouth to speak, stopping when a loud cracking noise filled the cabin. Eric froze, grabbing hold of Donna's jacket. The cabin walls shook and Michael jumped up from the bench, jerking Jackie and Fez in their seats. Jackie's heart pounded in her chest and she felt sluggish with the weight of beer. Fez had latched onto her side, whimpering Kelso's name. A pair of snowshoes fell from their nail as the walls shook violently, and Donna and Eric jumped over the hole in the ice, rushing out the door, followed closely by the others. A series of small pops resounded under their feet as they all came to a stop outside the shack's door. Eric grabbed Donna's arm, pulling her away from the shack across the ice. Jackie followed, shuffling her feet.

"What's happening?" Jackie shrieked. She stopped close to Donna's side, turning to see Michael and Fez moving slowly away from the shack toward the van. Pops and cracks filled the air. "Michael! No!"

The ice cracked, water pouring up over the shelf and Fez and Michael ran, stopping some thirty feet away as the lake's ice crumbled, swallowing Michael's van whole. Water washed up over the ice, darkening it, and Michael fell to his knees. His hands grabbed at his hair, pulling at the feathered locks. The lake made a belching noise as the last pocket of air was squeezed out of the van and Michael cried a terrible wail, his voice resounding across the ice and sending a flock of crows into the air from the nearby woods.

"My van!" Michael screamed. "My van! It's gone!"

Fez laid a hand on Michael's shoulder. "Kelso, it'll be ok."

"No, Fez," Michael said, his vice drifting across the ice. Jackie, Donna and Eric made a wide circle towards them. "Where am I supposed to hook up with girls now? A bed?"

"What about us, Michael?" Jackie screamed. She neared Fez and Michael, taking baby steps. "We may all die out here! All because you're an idiot!"

"Calm down, Jackie," Eric said as they neared him. "Kelso, it's no big deal. The van smelt like cat pee, anyway. And I'm sure there was some strain of VD embedded in the carpet."

"Well Eric, how about we go get the Cruiser and sink it in the middle of the lake, huh? See how you handle it!" Michael huffed. He turned and stalked off across the ice towards the main road. His sniffles led them to the highway, a steady chorus that punctuated the silence.

"How are we supposed to get home?" Fez said. He was shivering, snow gathered in his dark hair. Drifts of snow were piling up at the sides of the road and Fez kicked out at one, flurries fluttering in the air. "We will freeze before we make it to Point Place!"

"We'll call someone once we get to the next town." Jackie said, quickening her pace. She missed Steven, and warmth, and the feeling in her feet. Steven would never have dragged her out to this miserable place. And Steven would never have parked so close to the shack over thin ice, putting stress on the thin shelf. They passed a sign indicating the next town was a mile down the road and Jackie sighed gratefully. "Oh, thank God!"

Fez ran with Jackie down the stretch of road, both of them sweaty and panting, into town. A small building with a single gas pump out front was the first building they came up to and Jackie grasped Fez's hand.

"We're saved!" Fez panted, pulling Jackie across the street into the small gas station. They slid across patches of ice, clinging to one another.

An old woman was sitting behind the counter, her gray haired frizzed about her weathered face. She eyed them both suspiciously as they entered, a bell dinging over head. "Can I help you?"

"Yes!" Jackie wheezed. She stalked across the warped linoleum towards the woman. "We need a phone!"

"Phone is for paying customers only." The old woman replied. A bell rang over the door and Donna and Eric appeared, followed by Kelso.

Jackie turned to the others. "Ok, who has money?"

"My wallet was in the van," Michael said, patting his pockets.

"I have some cash." Eric produced two crumpled fives from his jeans.

"Great!" Jackie said, snatching them from him. She threw the money onto the counter before the old woman. "Now, give us the phone, witch!"

"Jackie, maybe you shouldn't insult her?" Donna whispered at her shoulder.

The old woman pointed to the back of the store, to an ancient rotary phone. "There she is." She reached to grab the two bills and Jackie slapped her palm over them.

"Oh, no, we need change." Jackie said. She slid one of the fives across the counter, and stuffed the other in her jacket pocket. "Quarters."

The old woman assessed Jackie before punching a button on her register, her wrinkled eyes never leaving Jackie's. The cash drawer pinged open, coins rattling and the old woman pulled out a fistful of quarters, smacking them onto the counter with a smirk. Jackie swiped the coins into her palm and tore off across the building.

"Call the police!" Fez said, following closely at her shoulder. "Tell them to bring candy!"

"Shh!" Jackie dropped a quarter into the change slot, dialing zero for the operator. She tapped her foot, cradling the phone close to her face. Donna came up next to her, looking anxious.

"Directory Assistance." A crisp woman's voice echoed down the receiver.

"Oh, thank God!" Jackie yelled into the phone, she heaved with emotion, her chest feeling tight. "Yes, I need you to connect me to the Fotohut, in Point Place! It's an emergency!"

"The charges for a long distance call is four dollars for the first three minutes, and a dollar more after each additional minute." The operator said, the line crackling. "Do you accept these charges?"

"Yes, yes!" Jackie screeched into the phone.

"Do you have a number for a bank account or credit card for the charges?" The operator asked.

"Charge it to Jack Burkhart's account, at Midwestern National Bank in Milwaukee," Jackie said.

The line popped. "Are you the primary account holder?"

"No."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I cannot charge an account unless you are the primary account holder." The operator replied.

"Listen, lady," Jackie began, tears blinding her. "It has been a terrible day! My stupid ex boyfriend dragged me to an ICE SHACK. An _ice shack_! Have you ever been to an ice shack? No? Well, aren't you lucky! Then, the idiot parked his van, in which he cheated with other girls numerous times, might I add, on thin ice and it broke through! It broke through the ice! The van! It sank to the bottom of Lake Winnebago! My feet hurt, I'm hungry and there's someone I really need to talk to back home, so for the love of God, connect me to the Fotohut in Point Place! NOW!"

The line buzzed, seemingly going dead, and Jackie waited with bated breath till the sound of ringing echoed in her ear. She let her head fall forward to rest on the wall and jerked back, eyeing the dirty wood paneling. The phone rang, and rang, and she cried with relief when Steven picked up, the sound of his voice a balm.

Steven coughed a few times, and said, "Fotohut."

"Steven!" Jackie cried, hot tears cascading over her cheeks. "Oh, my God, Steven!"

Steven was quiet for a beat. "Jackie? What's happened?"

"Oh, my God, Steven, it was terrible! It was so bad!" Jackie wailed, turning away as their friends gathered around her exchanged glances. She swallowed thickly, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. "This has been the worst day of my life!"

"Where are you?" Steven demanded.

"I don't know!" Jackie sputtered, her tears getting the better of her. She hiccupped into the receiver. She turned away from the wall, eyeing the rusty shelves holding tins of food. "Some grubby little shack in the middle of nowhere, the woman at the counter is probably Leatherface's mother! It's just like Texas!"

"Give me the phone!" Eric said, wrenching it from her grasp. He held it up over her head and motioning for her to calm down. Jackie leached on to his coat, staring as Eric brought the phone to his ear. "Hyde, man? Yeah, we're all together. I don't know, she just had a melt down, man."

"Tell him to come get us. Tell him to bring warm blankets!" Jackie yelled at Eric's ear. "Steven! Bring blankets!"

"And candy!" Fez added, leaning around Eric's other side.

"Guys!" Eric admonished, pushing her and Fez away. He pressed the phone to his ear again. "Where are we? Uhm, we're up 151, third exit. Hey, I left the keys to the Cruiser on the kitchen counter. Should be enough gas in the tank. Yeah. Ok. I'll tell her."

Eric hung up the phone, turning to the others. He pointed at Jackie with both hands, eyebrows waggling on his forehead when he started to speak. "Hyde told me to tell you, first, that you need to calm the fuck down, Jackie. And, second, that he'll be here in like an hour."

Jackie took several deep breaths.

"Damn, Jackie, no need to go completely crazy," Michael muttered.

Jackie pounced, smacking her open palms over every inch of Kelso she could reach. "You're such an idiot, Michael Kelso! Never speak to me again!"

"Jackie! You're going to hurt his eye if you don't stop," Donna said, pulling Jackie away. She wrapped an arm around Jackie's shoulders and led her down the main aisle, away from the boys. "Come on, let's go look at all the expiration dates on these cans of SPAM."

-x-

Jackie stood sentinel before the grimy window facing the lone gas pump, chewing on her thumbnail. She glanced periodically at the clock over the register, counting down the minutes since Steven had said he'd be here. Donna had let her be after five minutes of Jackie ignoring her attempts at conversation. The gang had bought a bag of potato chips, and a can of SPAM. They were sitting on the ground around Jackie's feet, passing the bag around the circle.

"Kelso, I'll give you-" Eric paused, counting the remaining quarters in his hand. "I'll give you one dollar and twenty five cents to eat that entire can of meat."

Kelso pulled back the tab, exposing the pink, potted pork. He shook it in his hand, gagging as the gelatinous goop on top wiggled. "Ugh!"

"Come on, Kelso," Eric urged. "You've eaten worse."

"Oh, like what?" Kelso asked, setting the can of SPAM on the floor.

Jackie called over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving the parking lot, "A jar of Alfredo sauce, chugged it all at once and then puked all over my kitchen."

"That sour cream and pimento cheese sandwich." Eric added.

"You ate a filter of used coffee grounds in eighth grade," Donna contributed, leaning back on her hands.

"Oh, that one was pretty bad. My poop burned coming out for like two weeks," Kelso laughed, spinning the pot of meat in circles. "Alright. You guys ready?"

Jackie turned to look, watching as Michael used his two first fingers to scoop out a hunk of meat. He stuffed it into his mouth, grimacing as he chewed. He swallowed, smacking his lips. "Not bad!" He scooped some more of the meat out, licking his fingers. "It tastes like a really salty ham."

A horn honked, and Jackie spun around, hands pressed to the window, watching as the Cruiser idled into the station. "Steven's here! We're rescued!"

Steven was exiting the Cruiser when Jackie launched herself out of the gas station, sliding across the icy pavement to fall into his arms. She clambered up his body, wrapping her legs about his waist and squealed in delight. "You're here! Oh, I thought we were going to be murdered!"

"Jackie, Jackie, get off," Steven said, pushing her off his body. He avoided meeting her gaze as the others trooped out of the gas station. "Hey, Forman, here."

Eric raised his hand, catching his keys as they sailed towards him from Steven. "She give you any troubles?"

"Nah, man, it was fine," Steven said, moving to the back seat. He opened the door, pressing his fingers to the small of Jackie's back, letting her slide in first. "Come on, let's get out of here. It's freezing."

Eric started up the Cruiser, heading back towards Point Place. Jackie shivered in the middle between Steven and Fez. Steven produced a rolled joint, smoothing out the paper. He brought it to his mouth and scowled. "So what happened exactly, that I had to drive all the way up here in the freezing cold to pick you guys up?"

"My van sunk," Kelso growled. "It just sank. All the way to the bottom."

"Uh huh," Steven said, lighting the joint. He took a deep pull and held it out to Jackie. "Guess it's a good thing I had to work, so I could come taxi you back."

Jackie took the burning joint from him, taking a small hit. She exhaled the grey smoke and took another hit, holding it out for Fez to take. "Stupid idiot. He should've known the ice wouldn't be thick enough yet!"

"Hey!" Michael spun around in his seat. He pointed his finger at Jackie. "I do not appreciate your attitude, missy. You've been nothing but a bitch this whole day!"

"Calm down, Michelle," Steven swatted at Michael's hand.

"Well, she has!" Michael argued. "She complained the whole time, insisted I drive her back, and then wasn't even sorry as my van sank to the bottom of the lake. You know what, Jackie? I think you're turning into a complicated woman, and I don't want none of that."

"Finally!" Jackie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"It's your loss," Michael spat, turning to face forward. He took the joint from Fez, sucking on the end.

Steven's hand briefly squeezed her knee, hidden in the darkness, and Jackie smiled down at her lap. With Steven close, she felt safe. The gang was quiet the trip home. Jackie curled against Fez's side, yawning deeply as the marijuana and beers collided and mixed in her blood stream. She laid her head on his shoulder, falling into a comfortable slumber, the vibration of the tires on the asphalt lulling her to sleep and the warmth of Steven's body rolling over her. Jackie edged in and out of sleep, catching brief snippets of conversation from the front of the car, waking up fully when Fez shook her shoulder at the curb before his house, only to immediately readjust her position to lean against Steven. She wrapped her hand over his thigh, sighing as his familiar scent filled her nostrils.

Eric dropped Michael off, heading for his own house. Jackie's eyes drifted closed as they turned off Magnolia onto Marie Street and she wished for a million years to sleep before she would have to wake up to walk home.

Eric parked at the curb before his house, turning off the ignition. He and Donna exited from the driver's side and Steven whispered, "Doll", gently shaking Jackie's shoulder.

"I'm going to walk Donna home," Eric said, under his breath as Jackie and Steven met them on the drive. "See you guys later."

Donna wrapped her hand around Eric's entwining their fingers and Jackie and Steven watched them hurry off towards her house, giggling once they'd reached the hedges separating their parents' properties. Steven took Jackie's hand once the other two had disappeared, leading her over to the exterior stairs to the basement. Jackie tugged at his hand, her voice drowsy. "Where are we going?"

"I'm too tired to walk back to your place," Steven explained, hurrying down the stairs. "We can just sleep in my old room."

Steven unlocked the basement door, slipping his ring of keys back into his jeans. They entered the dark basement, edging around the record player. Jackie knocked an 8-track cassette to the ground, the clatter sounding like a million boulders crashing to the concrete. Steven stilled, his hand tight over hers and Jackie's breath stuttered in her chest. When all remained quiet upstairs, Steven continued to the back of the basement, warning Jackie of the step up when they neared it.

Jackie's eyes were wide in the dark, her head swiveling around, hoping to catch any trace of light. She shivered in the cold basement. Steven led her into his old bedroom, dropping her hand as he shuffled around in search of the pull chord for the light. "Where the fuck is the damn light?"

Jackie squinted when Steven turned on the light, throwing the room into review. He moved over to a cedar chest against the wall and pulled out some quilts and a pillow, unfolding the blankets onto his old cot.

"Your parents aren't back yet, are they?" Steven asked, looking up at her. Jackie shook her head no from her spot by the door. Shrugging her jacket from her body, she let it fall to the floor and rushed across the narrow room, throwing herself into Steven's arms.

"Thank you, Steven," Jackie whispered, her lips pressed against his neck. "For rescuing me."

Steven chuckled. He drew back enough to kiss her cheek, working his way to her mouth. "Jackie, look, let's get in bed, ok?"

Jackie watched Steven kick out of his boots, sending them across the room to the musty green armchair in the corner. He dropped his jacket and t-shirt in a pile on the chair's seat and went to work on his belt buckle, pausing when he noticed Jackie staring at him. "You gonna wear all that to bed?"

"No," Jackie said, jumping in surprise. Closing the bedroom door behind her, she toed off her shoes, yanking her sweater up and over her head, and adjusting the hem of her t-shirt. She folded the sweater neatly, setting it on top of the cedar chest against the wall. Steven was slipping out of his jeans, tossing them on top of the pile of clothes in the armchair. She watched his boxer clad body slide under the quilts on the cot and undid the button and fly on her jeans, working the material over her hips.

Steven was watching her when Jackie turned to him. She tiptoed across the floor to him, turning off the light when Steven motioned to the pull chord.

"Come here," Steven whispered as Jackie slid underneath the covers. He wrapped an arm about her shoulders, pulling her to his side. They were quiet, Steven's fingers rubbing up and down her arm, and Jackie pressed a closed-mouth kiss to Steven's bare skin, just over his nipple, nuzzling against him.

Jackie was just on the verge of sleep when Steven shifted his weight under her. She heard his lips part and he whispered her name softly.

"Hmm?" Jackie sighed, angling her chin up on his chest.

"I'm glad nothing happened. With Kelso." Steven whispered.

Jackie's eyes opened. "Why would you think I'd do anything with Michael? I'm with you."

Steven sighed heavily, her hair fluttering about her face. "It doesn't matter, Jackie."

"No, Steven," Jackie said, sitting up on the bed. She couldn't see anything in the pitch dark, but her hands sought out his body, pressing against his shoulders. "Don't shut me out."

"Look, I'll tell ya someday, alright?" Steven muttered, his hands skating up her arms to cup her face. His thumbs were soft on her skin and Jackie pressed her cheek into his palm. "Ok, Jackie?"

"Why won't you just tell me now?" Jackie asked. "I don't understand Steven."

Steven pulled her face close, seeking out her mouth. Her hair curtained their faces. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips, angling his head to capture her fully. The tip of his tongue pushed against her lips and Jackie granted him access. Steven kissed her deeply, distracting her, before he pulled away. The darkness cloaked around them and Jackie's forehead dropped to rest against Steven's. His body was warm under the covers and Jackie kissed his cheek, down to his neck, settling in his arms.

"You can trust me, Steven," Jackie whispered, swinging her leg across his hips and coming to rest on top of him. She rocked her pelvis against him, feeling his member swell in his boxers. Jackie dipped to suck on his neck, her fingers scratching lightly down his chest. She pulled away, her breath hot against his skin. "Tell me."

Steven ground against her, his hands hard on her hips, holding her close. He bit her shoulder; his hands sliding up her back. "Stop talking, Jackie."

Jackie sought out his mouth, pushing her tongue into his mouth and dominating their kiss. She rolled her hips over him, sighing as Steven's hands reached up under her shirt to undo her bra.

Suddenly, she pulled away. "No, Steven."

"What? What's wrong?" Steven asked, his hands falling to her waist.

"You can't keep doing this, drawing me in and never talking to me." Jackie said, sliding down to sit on his thighs. She stared through the darkness to where she assumed Steven's face was, drawing her hands from his body.

"Baby, I do talk to you," Steven argued, his voice subdued.

"Not about things that matter!" Jackie shot back. "I want to know who you are, Steven. Especially-"

She broke off, biting on her lower lip. The cot creaked, and Steven was sitting up before her. His hands reached out to her, landing on her shoulders. His breath was warm on her face. "Especially, what, baby?"

The room cocooned them in its velvet folds of black, and Jackie felt like they were on their own private island, with no one else to bother them. If only Steven could feel the same, and admit it, telling her something about himself to make her think this wasn't just some fling. That she wasn't just another notch on his bedpost.

"Steven," Jackie began. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes round. "I don't want this to be just another fling for you. I don't think I could handle it."

"Jackie-" Steven started, his hands falling from her.

"No, Steven, let me talk," Jackie interrupted. She took a deep, steadying breath. "Look. I only went to the lake because of how you acted this morning. We spent a beautiful night together, I experienced things with you that I've only ever read about in romance novels, and then you act like a complete jerk. Like you don't care about me at all."

"Jackie-" Steven started to say.

"No, shush!" Jackie said, her voice growing in pitch. She shifted her weight on his thighs. "I think you think that I'm only using you, Steven. Till Michael and I get back together. But it's not true. I care about you. A lot. I want to give myself to you, someday. But I'm not some plaything for you to get your fill of, and then toss away. Sometimes it feels like you're the one using me."

Steven sighed, heavily, his curls brushing against Jackie's chin as his head dropped. Silence pounded in her ears and Jackie felt like a small child, Steven's legs twitching under her, as he grew more irritated.

"Steven, I love-"

"Stop," Steven said gently. "Don't Jackie."

Jackie felt tears sting her eyes. "You can't keep pushing me away like this, Steven."

"I'm not, Doll, I'm not," Steven assured her, encasing her in his arms. His hands came up to her hair, threading through the silky locks. His mouth was insistent when it met hers, and he moaned deeply when Jackie pulled abruptly away. He took several deep breaths before he spoke again. "I know, Jackie. I know what I feel. But you gotta give me time, baby. I'm not like Kelso. I won't say something just to make you happy."

Breathing became more difficult for Jackie. Her hands rose to his in her hair, wrapping about his wrists. Her pulse throbbed in her fingers. "Oh, Steven…"

"Jackie, you are special to me," Steven whispered so low, Jackie almost didn't catch it. "Ok?"

"Steven…" Jackie said deep in her throat. She kissed him gently, thumbs massaging the skin at his wrists. "You're special to me too."

"God, I want you, Jackie," Steven moaned. His hands dropped to her hips, roughly yanking her up his thighs. He was hard, and Jackie moaned into his mouth, her tongue fielding with his. His hands grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, yanking it over her head, swiftly undoing the clasp of her bra. He covered her breasts with soft kisses, sucking one nipple into his mouth before moving on to the next, working them to stiff peaks. His arm wrapped around Jackie, holding her to him, and he flipped them around, coming to rest on top of her.

"Oh, God," Jackie gasped as Steven nipped her skin, working his way down her body. He grabbed the waistband of her panties, wrenching them down her legs. The cold air on her swollen flesh sent a shiver down her spine and Jackie had barely enough time to prepare herself when Steven descended between her thighs, coaxing an orgasm from her in a matter of seconds, his tongue lapping at her like a man dying of thirst.

Steven bit the inside of her thigh, letting Jackie come down from her high. She pulled at his curls, gasping his name. "Steven, I want to touch you."

He ignored her, pressing soft kisses to her thighs, his fingers curling to stroke her. Steven pressed his index finger into her, caressing her insides expertly. The flat of his tongue worked up her slit, settling over her clit. Jackie's knees clamped together, and she whimpered, her body pulsing as another orgasm washed over her. Her knees fell open and Steven worked his way up her belly, pausing at her rib cage.

"Steven, let me touch you!" Jackie demanded, grappling at his body. Steven obliged, coming closer. Jackie reached into his boxers, stroking his swollen dick in her fingers. He was hard as a rock and his head dropped to rest on her shoulder as he hovered over her.

In a matter of minutes, Steven was releasing in her hand, covering her belly in sticky, hot semen. He twitched, pulling out of Jackie's grasp as she touched the head of his dick. "Too sensitive," he muttered, propping his elbows by her ears. He kissed her deeply, swallowing her apology. "I'll get you a towel."

Steven stumbled across the room blindly, jerking open the bedroom door for the small bathroom just down the short hall, flipping on the hall light. He returned a second later, warm, wet washcloth in hand, and cleaned his essence from her skin, using the hall light to see. He kissed her, just over her belly button and left again, disappearing into the bathroom.

Jackie straightened out the blankets, settling onto the cot. The air was already cooling her down, drying the sweat to her skin. Steven smelt of soap when he returned, flipping off the hall light and closing the door. He shuffled across the floor, bumping into the side of the cot with a curse.

Turning the quilts back, he slid in after Jackie, spooning her tightly to his chest. He pushed her hair from her neck, pressing a kiss to her spine. His naked body covered hers, his hand coming up to cup her breast and Jackie felt a smile cover her face. Steven slid his knee between her legs, nuzzling against her shoulder. "Till tomorrow, Doll."

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 **A/N: Two updates in one weekend?! What is this malarkey? Thank you for all you reviews on the last chapter. Here's a little something to keep y'all satisfied till the next update.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

 _You know I'd love to love you,_

 _And above you there's no other._

 _-Livin' In The Past,_ Jethro Tull

November 1977

Sunday, 4:30 am

The morning was wrapped in a blanket of gray as Steven hurried down the sidewalk towards his dad's apartment building, and he added to the bleak dawn, expelling a lungful of cigarette smoke into the chilly air. He had slept awkwardly, and terribly, sharing the narrow cot with Jackie. If she had been a bed-hog in her own twin sized bed, it was nothing compared to her tendency to spread out like a starfish across his narrow cot. After a couple of hours of drifting in and out of a stupor, growing more and more irritated, Steven had shook Jackie awake, the both of them dressing quickly, and walked her home.

She had been drowsy, and petulant, insistent that Steven should stay the rest of the morning with her, wrapped in her pink bedroom, and that he was being ridiculous in his accusations that she was selfish in bed space. The sounds of her dragging feet had followed him the mile to her house, and it only grated more on his nerves. Steven had left her on the porch, her hair mussed, with mascara smudged under her eyes, and looking utterly attractive and as appealing as he found her when she was perfectly coifed.

Steven had kissed her, pushing away the sinking feeling that this would be the last kiss he would give her for a while. He turned down the stairs before Jackie could latch on, coaxing him into her house with tender touches. She had waited on her porch, arms crossed under her breasts, watching him till he had closed and locked the gate behind him, before she raised a hand goodbye and vanished into her house.

Steven flicked ash into the gutter, his eyes raised, focused on the dilapidated apartment building. He took one last inhale, holding the burning smoke deep inside his lungs and dropped the butt to the pavement. He pressed his hands into his pockets, fingering his ring of keys.

"Hyde, man." A raspy voice called out to him as Steven neared the apartment's steps. Steven paused near the first step, his eyes scanning the sidewalk.

"Hey Tony," Steven called, his eyes landing on a pile of rags by the row of metal trashcans. The pile shifted, and a sallow face emerged, half of it covered in ratty gray hair. Steven cleared his throat, taking his keys from his pocket. "Long night, man?"

Tony's hands appeared, clutched around a nearly empty bottle of vodka. His fingers shook as he twisted off the cap. He sighed heavily, the sound of phlegm at the back of his throat filling the air. "The longest. Zorb didn't come again. He promised."

 _Ah, Zorb._ Steven thought, stepping up onto the first step. The mythical God that Tony and a few of the other bums in the neighborhood worshipped. They proclaimed that Zorb would be making his grand return, pulling from the earth all the needy and giving them a life of plenty, complete with drugs and virgins. Every week Steven heard something new. Zorb was busy on his home planet, readying the new homes for his faithful followers. Zorb was procuring the virgins. Zorb was converting new believers for the cause.

"Sorry, man." Steven pulled a cigarette from his pack and offered it to Tony.

Tony took a long pull from his handle of vodka, wiping at his mouth with the back of his dirty, grimy hand. His hands shook as he twisted the cap back on his handle of vodka. He shook his head at Steven, smacking his lips together after he swallowed. "Nah, man, those things will kill ya."

Steven twirled the cigarette in his fingers, his lips pursed. "Right. See ya later."

"As long as it's before Tuesday. Zorb is coming Tuesday." Tony said, disappearing into his bed of ratty blankets.

"Sure thing." Steven called, jogging up the stairs to the entrance. He unlocked the main door, yanking roughly a few times before the door opened with a squeal on its hinges. The lights flickered overhead and Steven hurried down the narrow hall, past the wall of rusted mailboxes, towards the elevator. It had been out of order for the past week, and rarely worked when it was in order. He pressed the call button, staring up at the arrow indicating the car was stuck at the sixth floor, before turning for the stairs, taking them two at a time up to the fourth floor.

Steven's eyes felt heavy, as he neared his father's apartment, his heart pounding in his chest from his trip up the stairwell. He wasn't worried about getting in trouble for spending the whole night out. That was the thing with Bud. He didn't much care where Steven was, as long as he had his portion of the rent on time. What Steven needed was sleep, and days of it. He needed uninterrupted sleep. Sleep where he didn't wake up with Jackie's knee in his back or her hairs halfway down his throat. Sleep that wasn't interrupted with her mouth and slender fingers on his skin.

The apartment was lit up when Steven entered, closing the door with a soft click behind him. Steven's eyes gazed around before landing on the last thing he had ever expected to see in his short seventeen years. Cigarette smoke clouded the air and the arm on the record player clicked, over and over, it's arm trapped at the end of the record as it spun in lazy circles. Clothes were strewn around the apartment, a woman's and a man's, and Steven stepped closer to the couch, looking down at his parent's sleeping forms.

Bud was passed out, and Edna was passed out on top of him, the both of them barely covered with a moth-eaten blanket. Steven couldn't remember the last time he had seen his mom, much less the last time he had seen Edna and Bud in the same room, touching one another willingly and without objects being thrown. Steven kicked out at Bud's pants and an empty bottle of tequila was loosed, rolling across the hardwood floor.

 _Ah, that explains that._ Steven thought, sighing heavily.

Steven stalked across the apartment, unlocking his bedroom door. He closed it roughly, an odd feeling rolling across his shoulders. It was something akin to jealousy and anger. Living with Bud had been one thing. It was freedom, the ability to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and Bud never said anything about it. They had struck up a system; Bud did whatever the fuck it was he did before Steven had moved in, and Steven hoarded all the cash he made and found, in the hopes that when the first of the month rolled around, he wouldn't have to dish out all his money again, while Bud made the excuse of betting his share all away. Again.

Bud was, in effect, the perfect roommate. He brought home beer, he had joints stashed all over the apartment, and he had spliced the neighbor's cable with Steven's vice grips to join up with their stolen TV. He brought home seedy women, who walked around in their underwear and somehow managed to throw together a meal the next morning, playing Mother to Steven. Steven thought they must have brought the food with them, since the only thing ever found at one time in the fridge was a case or two of beer and an opened package of salami growing an impressive colony of mold that had been there since Steven had moved in three months ago.

But Edna… Edna was a reminder of his childhood. A reminder of the men she had paraded through their run-down house and all the times she had chosen a stranger over her own son. Bud had just disappeared, leaving an explanation to the imagination. It was easy to forgive Bud for missing little league games and school programs, when Steven could just imagine he was behind bars, true or not. Edna didn't have the same excuse. She worked for the school for Christ's sake. All the times Steven had had to listen to her and her flavor of the week screwing one another like rabbits through the thin walls of his childhood bedroom, all the events she had missed, and the times she had let Joe Schmoe beat Steven for the slightest infraction. All that was piled on Steven's young body and he realized with a swoop of his gut that he'd never released it.

He hated her.

Steven kicked out of his boots, dropping his jacket to the floor. He tossed his sunglasses onto the dresser by his bed, plopped onto the mattress, rolling up into the thin blanket, and thought, as his eyes drifted shut that he should've just stayed with Jackie. Jackie was warm. Jackie didn't make him think of all the lovely memories of his childhood. Even if she did hog the bed.

Steven's eyes opened, staring across the room, unseeing. He turned onto his back. The ceiling was warped, parts of the plaster missing, the other parts stained with water damage. He had left the majority of his things at the Forman's. They were safer there. The most valuable thing he owned that he kept in the apartment was his boots, the ones Jackie had bought him, and those he kept in the footlocker at the end of his bed, buried beneath his t-shirts and jeans. He didn't trust Bud not to pawn his stereo, or anything else of Steven's for that matter. And add Edna to the mix… Steven would be even poorer than he already was.

He tried to imagine Jackie here. He tried to picture her walking voluntarily into the apartment and taking off her coat, setting it at the end of his bed. He tried to picture her sliding into bed with him, her eyes not pinging off the shabbiness and found he couldn't do it. All he could see was her sneer, the way her eyes would darken at the shabby, derelict apartment. A roach crawled up the wall, catching Steven's eye and he watched it scurry across a poster of a Camaro, up the ceiling and into a hole in the plaster.

If Jackie were here, she'd have run as far away as her designer boots would carry her, at the sight.

Jackie would insist on giving him money, hell, she'd probably get her daddy to pay for his apartment and then move Steven in without Steven realizing she'd done any of it to start with. She didn't understand what it meant to be poor, to value something other than money and material items. He'd never be good enough for Jackie, never be able to give her the things she wanted. He'd be lucky if he grew up and had a house as nice as the Forman's. That was, if he didn't end up in jail like his mother had always predicted of him.

Steven rolled angrily onto his side, staring at the bedroom door, the paint peeling off in long strips. He was just drifting into blissful sleep when he was pulled awake again. Out in the living room he heard Edna's voice, muffled behind the door, and Steven glared through narrowed eyes. She was mumbling, her words thick with sleep and booze, and Steven heard her feet pound across the living room, past his door, and to the bathroom, the door slamming closed so that the mirror over his dresser shook.

"Quit slamming all my doors, woman!" Bud yelled, his voice coming from where Steven imagined the couch to be. "If you break somethin', you're payin' for it to be fixed!"

The bathroom door was wrenched open and Steven heard the heels of Edna's feet strike the hardwood. "Like you've ever paid for _anything_ in your life, you no good sack of shit!"

"I paid for your kid!" Bud shot back. Steven heard Bud's feet hit the floor. Steven settled into the mattress, his tired eyes burning. "I paid for our wedding! The most miserable day of my life."

Steven's hands came up to his face, his palms resting listlessly on his stubbled cheeks.

"You never paid for shit!" Edna screeched, her voice close by Steven's door. "You were too busy getting arrested and gambling away all your money! And I hardly think paying for that sham of a wedding counts. You spent the majority of it on kegs of beer and then passed out before we left the church parking lot! You threw up all over my dress!"

"Well at least I wasn't some _whore_ , giving it out to every willing piece of shit that crossed your path!" Bud yelled back. There was a crash, the sound of glass tinkling to the floor. "Tell me, Ed, how many times _have_ you had to visit the Free Clinic?"

"If I am a whore, what does that say about you, you willing piece of shit? Just 'cause you never paid me, doesn't mean you weren't a customer." Edna said. There was another crash and a loud thump and Steven rubbed his hands across his face, letting his arms fall heavily to his sides.

"It's great to be home," Steven muttered under his breath.

Steven listened as feet pounded across the floor and Edna made a noise like a cat from the back of her throat. Bud cursed, and another crash filled the air. Something heavy was thumped against the wall, shaking the mirror over Steven's dresser once more, and then it grew quiet. Steven raised his head from his pillow, his eyebrows drawing together. He was half-tempted to call out, but bit his tongue instead. If one of them had murdered the other, so be it. One less parent for Steven to feel obligated to care about.

And then he heard it: The sound that had plagued his nightmares.

Edna moaned, a deep wanton thing that sent a chill down Steven's spine. The very sound of it took him back to his youth and a thick bile rose up his throat. He laid his head back on the bed, pulling his pillow over his face. The rhythmic sound of Bud and Edna's humping reached his ears despite the pillow pressed against his skull and Steven cursed out loud. He really, _really_ , should've stayed with Jackie.

"Yeah, you like it, you dirty bitch," Bud said, his voice gasping with effort.

Edna moaned again. Bud began a chorus of dirty litanies, all punctuated with him calling Edna a bitch, his voice a wheezing moan. The sound of their bodies writhing on the wood floor reverberated into Steven's bedroom, and the sound of their naked flesh slapping against each other soaked through his pillow.

Steven shot up out of bed, yanking his jeans off the floor and over his legs. He buckled them tight about his hips and opened the footlocker at the end of the bed, pulling out a fresh shirt and his boots. He finished dressing, grabbing his jacket and made for the lone window across the room. He pushed open the window, sticking his leg out over the ledge, upsetting a thin layer of snow, and stepped onto the fire escape.

Steven hunkered down, closing the window behind him. He settled into a squat on the fire escape, looking out over Point Place as the sun rose around him. His breath crystallized before him, bursts of white air that hung about his face. Tony had woken, and was gathering his nest of blankets, folding them into his stolen shopping basket from the Piggly Wiggly. He was singing the Grateful Dead as he worked, his voice rising up to Steven's hiding spot. A few of the other homeless men had gathered around him, and they all made off down the sidewalk towards the Point Place Park once Tony had gotten his things together, a long caravan of stolen shopping carts, each man singing a different Grateful Dead song.

Taking his cigarettes from his pocket, Steven lit up, watching the world around him come alive. His legs grew stiff from the cold, the right one falling asleep, and Steven burned through the rest of his pack, the sun having risen over the roofs of the buildings around him, before he deemed it safe to reenter his room.

Stumbling over the windowsill, Steven paused, listening for any sounds. There was a shuffling beyond his closed bedroom door, and then the front door slammed closed, and Steven watched out the window for several minutes till the heads of his mother and father appeared on the sidewalk four floors down. They faced one another for a moment, and then took off in opposite directions, Edna stopping at the corner for the bus, her arms crossed tightly over her chest and face pinched with dissatisfaction.

His mattress felt like a pile of feathers and Steven was asleep in seconds, still fully clothed. He didn't dream, but slept hard for a few hours. When he woke, his mouth was dry, a film of fuzz covered his tongue, and Steven lay still for several minutes. His body was stiff and his neck cricked when he rolled onto his back, his hands resting on his stomach. Steven felt he could have slept for several more hours, but the watch on his wrist said that he had work in two hours and his belly begged for food.

The TV was on in the living room and Steven rose from the bed with a narrowed eye. He shuffled across his bedroom, cracking his knuckles. He paused at the door, listening, before swinging it open, his eyes fixed on the couch.

Bud turned to look at him in surprise. He was sipping at a beer, the channel switched to a car wash scene from a porno. Bud made no movement to change the station, nor did he show any sign of embarrassment. He simply turned back to the screen, spinning his beer on the arm of the sofa. "Hey, Steven. When did you get home?"

"This morning," Steven said, his eyes drifting to the TV. "Early."

"Ah." Bud brought a can of beer to his lips, draining it and shook the empty can in Steven's direction. "Be a friend?"

Steven closed his bedroom door behind him and trudged into the kitchen, taking two beers from the fridge. Bud had crushed his empty beer can, tossing it over his shoulder, and Steven deliberately stepped on it as he passed, leftover droplets of beer oozing onto the floor. The rug around Bud was littered with empty cans and pull-tabs. An empty Fatso Burger bag and wrapper was littered beside him on the couch.

" _Oh, Chrissy, you're getting me all wet."_

Steven sank onto the couch, pushing aside the empty wrappers and pulling back the tab on his beer.

"Thanks, son," Bud said, pulling the tab on his own beer. He dropped the metal top on the floor and drank deeply, belching after he'd swallowed.

They were both silent for a bit, their eyes trained on the television as the car wash girls dumped buckets of soapy water on one another, giggling and play fighting. Bud's fingers rubbed at his own thigh and Steven leaned heavily against the side of the sofa, pushing back the thought of Edna and Bud sprawled naked upon its cushions only hours before.

"So, Steven," Bud said suddenly, clearing his throat. He shifted his weight, taking a long pull on his beer. "There was something I wanted to tell you."

"What's that Bud?" Steven asked, draining the last of his beer. He stood from the couch and back to the fridge, grabbing two new cans. Steven offered one to Bud, turning to stalk back into the kitchen. He pulled open the cupboards, in search of something to munch, sighing as he took out an opened box of Triscuits. They had the texture of cardboard and stuck in his throat when he swallowed, but it was something, Steven thought.

"Well, your mother and I are trying to work things out, and she's going to be staying here every now and then," Bud said, his voice raised slightly to be heard. His eyes remained trained on the TV.

Steven swallowed heavily, coughing around the Triscuit dust that settled at the back of his throat. He glanced at the clock over the stove; still over an hour till work. He took a long swig of beer and said hollowly, "You're trying to work things out? What's to work out?"

Bud turned and looked at Steven over the back of the sofa. "We are still married, Steven." He sighed, turning back to the television. Bud swirled the beer in his hand, staring at the dark open mouth of the can. "Whatever it is that means."

They grew silent once more, Steven leaning against the counter, staring down at the dirty tile. He drank copiously between handfuls of Triscuits, finishing two cans of beer in a matter of minutes.

Belching, Bud stood from the couch and made his way into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a beer, coming to stand by Steven at the counter as he pulled off the tab. Steven looked up at his father, considering the hard lines of his old man's face. The way Edna had described him Bud had really been something when they had first met. Handsome and strong, fresh out of high school and still bulked from his position as quarterback. But now he was a hollow shell of that man, his body gone to seed. Dark pouches of purple skin bagged under his eyes and thick lines stood like parenthesis around his mouth. A round beer belly and spindly arms and legs, and Steven gulped from his beer, flexing his arms almost self-consciously, as if to prove that he still had strength, something more than Bud.

"Look, Steven-" Bud began. He pushed a pile of unopened bills across the counter. A reek of alcohol wafted off of Bud's body and Steven wondered how long he'd been at it. Bud leaned his hip against the counter, sipping at his beer. "Don't let them fool you."

"Who?" Steven asked, rising to stand straight. He pushed away the nearly empty box of Triscuits. "The government?"

Bud scowled. He set his beer can down angrily, the metal clanging on the dirty tiled counter. "No, not the government. Women! _Women_ , Steven!"

"Oh," Steven replied, thinking of Jackie. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking down at the beer in his hand. "What about women?"

"It starts out all fun times and sex. They look good and taste good and act like you've hung the moon. They'll do the kinkiest things to get you attached." Bud took a pull of his beer, licking his lips after he swallowed. He listed severely to the right, grabbing hold of the edge of the counter. "But it doesn't last, Steven."

Steven looked down at the counter, tapping the edges of the bottom of his can on the counter. "Right."

Bud laughed under his breath, burping acrid stomach vapors across Steven's face. "I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing when my old man gave me The Talk. You're thinking you already know. You already know how life is going to turn out. Maybe you've even met a nice good girl. Maybe she makes you feel like anything's possible and the stars shine a little brighter in the sky when she's around. It's all a lie, Steven. Dump her, let her go and set her free. Let her go if only to save her. Men like us, son, we don't do relationships."

"I'm not in a relationship," Steven said, his voice hard. He pushed the indignant look he knew Jackie would have given him to hear such words coming from his mouth out of his mind and took the last sips of his beer.

"Good," Bud said vehemently. He came around the counter, and slapped a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Son, I tell you this as someone who got married practically right out of high school. Heed my advice. Fuck as many girls as you can. Fuck them all. Fuck the ugly ones and the pretty ones. Fuck the ones that are married, hell, fuck the old ones too. Don't settle. Cause one day-"

The front door opened and Edna entered, looking harried. She saw Steven and Bud at the counter, and groaned loudly. She kicked the door closed with her foot, the slam of it echoing through the small apartment. Her eyes fell to the empty beer cans scattered around the couch. "You couldn't have picked up anything? What, I'm the woman, so naturally, I have to do all the cleaning? Like I don't have a job and things to do and I'm not tired and my feet don't hurt, and _yes_ I just love having to pick up after two grown ass men…" Her voice trailed off as she moved down the short hall of the apartment. Doors opened and closed, each more roughly than the next.

"Cause one day, they turn into that," Bud finished under his breath. He pushed off the counter, his hand falling from Steven's shoulder.

"Then why stay married?" Steven asked as Bud shuffled over to the couch.

Bud dropped to the couch. "Better than dishing out all that child support."

-x-

His chest felt like it was caving in on him, his ribs splintering into his thorax and the jagged edges poking holes into his lungs. Steven stumbled down the sidewalk, past the caravan of hobo's making their way back from the park, muttering about Zorb and smelling less of body odor and more of marijuana. Nodding his head in acknowledgement of their chorus of Greetings, Steven headed towards town. He needed more cigarettes. He needed to run away from this shit-town and never look back. He needed Jack-

 _No._ Steven pushed away the thought of Jackie. He couldn't think of her. Not when he felt like this. Like he was about to implode. Jackie was too pure, too innocent, too ABBA. She was all the good things he would never be. She was rich and a snob and shallow. She was the culmination of all the things Edna had always told him he'd never achieve and the things Bud had convinced him he'd never want.

He was too poor, too jaded. He was undeserving. And yet, he still wanted her. He'd always want her.

Steven walked briskly out of the seedy part of Point Place, towards the Piggly Wiggly's parking lot and the little blue-roofed Fotohut. He was wrapped up in himself, wrapped up in the thoughts that Bud's words had provoked. He didn't feel the wind biting through his thin coat. He walked across streets without looking for cars. He was nearly run down by a station wagon, but barely spared it a glance. He knocked shoulders with an old lady pulling a cart of groceries, throwing her off balance, but he didn't stop to apologize or pick up her handbag.

The old woman yelled at his retreating form, accusing him of being all that was wrong with society these days: "No manners, any of ya!"

The Fotohut was empty when Steven reached it. He secured the door behind him and leaned heavily against it, realizing for the first time just how hard he was breathing. It felt like he was having a panic attack. Steven couldn't take a full, deep breath. His limbs jerked, feeling antsy, and he paced for a few minutes in front of the door, his fingers clutched at his hair.

Steven's eyes landed on the shelves of cigarettes and he ambled towards it, ripping the cellophane wrapping off a new pack and tapped it briskly against the heel of his palm, packing the tobacco. His Zippo dropped to the ground as he took it out to light the end of his cigarette, and he stooped erratically to pick it up, huffing angrily.

He couldn't get any of what Bud had said out of his mind. Jackie was dancing around in there too, intermingling with the words of his father and Steven clutched at his head, wishing it would all stop. The smell of his cigarette was making his stomach turn. She high kicked and did cartwheels, cheering out the words Bud had said. Let Me Go. Fuck Them All. Let Me Go And Fuck Them All. She fell into a perfect split, waving her pom-poms over her head. He felt weak. The inconsequential attitude and inadequacies that had plagued him as a child were all rushing up on him. He was destined to fail, he was destined to be Bud and marry Edna. Jackie didn't fit into the picture. Jackie was the girl poor losers fantasized about, the cheerleader who led the perfect life, and married the man who worked nine to five, gave her two and a half kids and the golden retriever and trips to Turks and Caicos, Just Because. The most Steven would ever be able to give Jackie would be a visitors pass to visit him in jail.

The rush of nicotine in his system was enough to make him unsteady on his feet and Steven sank to the hard floor. Steven chain-smoked till he wanted to throw up. His stomach roiled and he was almost happy when Leo banged open the door, rubbing at his shoulder. Leo shut and locked the door behind him, muttering under his breath.

Leo didn't notice Steven at first, huddled on the floor, and nearly tripped over Steven's legs as he made his way about the small building.

"Hyde, man, what are you doing down there?" Leo took a seat next to Steven. He adjusted his vest about his body and crossed his legs Indian Style.

"Thinking, man, just thinking." Steven replied, shaking another cigarette from the pack.

"Man, don't smoke that," Leo said, swatting at the cigarette, knocking it out of Steven's fingers. He pulled a baggie and papers from his pocket. "I'll roll us something better."

They were quiet, Steven's eyes watching Leo's nimble fingers roll the perfect joint. He brought his knees to his chest, propping his arms on them.

Leo lit the joint, taking the first toke and held in his smoke. He offered the joint to Steven and they smoked, passing back and forth. Leo hummed to himself, leaning back against the shelving. Soon, they had made a perfect hot box of the Fotohut, and Steven felt the edges of his anxiety begin to falter.

"You wanna tell me what's got you down, man?" Leo asked. His voice was soft in the dark, smokey Fotohut and Steven let his legs drop before him.

Crossing his ankles, Steven scratched at his nose and cleared his throat. "It's nothing, Leo."

"You're not yourself, Hyde, man," Leo said, turning to Steven. He flourished his hands about Steven's head. "Your aura is totally whacked."

Steven sighed deeply. He chewed at his bottom lip before mumbling, "Did you get along with your old man, Leo?"

"My old man?" Leo said, chuckling. He uncrossed his legs, extending them before him. His feet rocked on his heels like a metronome. "No, man, we didn't get along."

"Why not?" Steven said, his fingers finding a hole in the thigh of his jeans. A car pulled up to the service window, honking its horn, and Steven and Leo looked up at the counter, neither of them moving from their positions on the floor.

"Psh," Leo shifted, his shoulder briefly touching Steven's. "He was a hard ass, always thought he knew what was best for me, man. If I'd done what he wanted of me, I'd be working in some accounting firm somewhere, totally straight edged, man."

"That doesn't sound so bad, man, a good job," Steven said. The car at the service window pulled away, the exhaust backfiring at the end of the drive.

"Maybe not," Leo agreed. He sighed heavily. "It's just not what I wanted. I didn't want to be my dad, man. He was this unhappy dude, living in a house he didn't like, driving the latest model of car." Leo paused, his eyes staring blankly into his memory. "He was always busy, man. And my mom, man, she turned into this bitter thing 'cause of it."

Steven soaked this in. Bud's words were softer in his head now. Jackie was quiet, no longer cheering and jumping around, but watching him expectantly. She had finally stopped her recital of Let Me Go, Fuck Them All, her pom-poms still at her sides.

"You ever been in love, Leo?" Steven asked Leo suddenly, his question startling even himself.

"Oh, yeah, man, loads of times," Leo answered, his tone serious.

Steven leaned his head back against the shelf behind him. "No, man, I mean, like really in love."

"Been in love with what?"

"A woman, you ever been in love with a woman?"

"Oh, yeah, man, loads," Leo said, chuckling.

Steven pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. Little bursts of stars erupted on his closed lids. "No, just one woman. Leo, man, you ever been in love with just one woman?"

"Sally Mae," Leo said instantly, his voice as clear as Steven had ever heard it. "She was my one true love. I met her in San Francisco. On Ken Kesey's bus. We tripped acid together and traveled across the country, man."

"What happened to her?" Steven whispered.

"She had a bad experience, a bad trip. We were… I don't know where we were. The trees were taller than the sky and the daisies were singing, man, wherever that is." Leo coughed, clearing his throat. "One minute she was there with me in the grass, making love. The next she was gone. She wasn't on the bus later. I left her clothes where she'd dropped them and said farewell to the breeze."

"Hmm," Steven said.

"Well, man, I gotta go," Leo said, his voice thick with his high. He stood, his knees cracking. "Kelso is buying my car. Just gotta go find it first."

Steven stood from the floor, clapping a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Come on, Leo, I'll help ya."

"Cool," Leo said, heading towards the door. He paused, gripping the door handle, and turned back to Steven. "Do you remember where I live, dude?"

-x-

Kelso was waiting for them in Leo's driveway. Steven took in Leo's ranch style house, the yard overgrown and weeds springing up between the slabs of concrete of the sidewalk and driveway. The mailbox was belching envelopes and coupon inserts onto the sidewalk.

"Ah, man, I knew it was around here somewhere!" Leo exclaimed. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and hurried up the sidewalk to the front door, Steven and Kelso trailing behind him. Moldy newspapers were piled on the porch and Leo opened the front door with a flourish.

Scents of patchouli and stale air wafted out, and Steven and Kelso shared a look of trepidation before following Leo into the house. Dead houseplants were scattered all over the foyer, and a layer of dust covered everything by an inch. Steven shifted a book lying on the entryway table, exposing the mahogany wood underneath. Leo was going from room to room, stopping in the center to exclaim his giddiness.

"Man, my own house! Garage is this way, dudes," Leo's voice called from the kitchen.

"Come on," Kelso said, stepping over a pile of disrupted books and papers.

Steven wandered in to the kitchen where Leo was waiting at the back door leading down to a semi-detached garage. He waved Kelso and Steven over, taking a set of keys from the hook by the door and disappearing into the dark.

"Do you feel like Leo is leading us down to some kind of torture chamber, and we'll never make it out alive?" Kelso whispered, pausing by the counter. A bowl of molded fruit was sitting beside a bong, fruit flies buzzing around the grapes.

"Kelso, it's Leo!" Steven shoved at Kelso's shoulder. "He didn't even remember where his house was! You really think he has a torture chamber, let alone knows where it is?"

Leo was standing in the only clear space in his garage, peering around at the stacks of junk around him. He turned to Kelso and Steven as they entered. Leo thrust his hands into his pockets and pivoted on his feet. "It's in here somewhere, dudes."

"Leo, it's here," Kelso said, making around a box of metal odds and ends, pulling an edge of tarp away, and exposing the El Camino. Kelso rubbed the side of his coat along the back fender, exposing shiny black paint. "The El Camino. The Camino. Oh, I will get so much tail driving this thing."

"Yeah," Leo said. He came around to the back of the car and pushed a box aside, peering at the back of the El Camino. Leo held out a set of keys on an 8-ball keychain. "Ok, man, here are the keys."

"Oh, bitchin'!" Kelso yelled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright pink check. Steven's eyes narrowed. A pink check, written in Jackie's looped handwriting. Kelso extended the pink piece of paper to exchange with the keys.

Leo's fingers wrapped around the keys again, his hand dropping to his side and he sighed deeply, rubbing the tailgate affectionately. "You know, I was going to give this car to my son on his sixteenth birthday. But then my old lady took him and split."

Steven's eyebrows rose and fell on his forehead. "Yeah, wow."

"Sad story," Kelso muttered, his eyes briefly flitting down to the keys in Leo's hand. He extended the check closer, waving it at Leo. "Keys, please?"

Leo's face was sad, his mouth downturned. "I can't sell you the car, man."

"Wha-?" Kelso's extended arm fell back to his side. "Oh, man. Yeah, I guess I understand."

"Thanks, man," Leo clapped a hand on Kelso's shoulder. He turned to Steven, his mouth spreading in a smile. "Hyde, I want you to have this car."

"What! No! You just said you couldn't sell the car!"

Leo pressed the keys into Steven's hand. "Well, I'm not selling the car. I'm giving it to him, man. He's family. He's the son I never had."

Steven's heart swelled in his chest and a brief feeling of elation completely covered the anger and frustration he had been subjected to all day. He smiled, his fingers closing over the keys.

"You just said you had a son!" Kelso screeched, stamping his foot.

Leo turned agitatedly to Kelso. "Yeah, and Hyde's the son I _never_ had."

"Hey, Leo, man, you're the best!" Steven said. "The car, the love, the wicked burn on Kelso."

Kelso scowled.

Hyde spun the keys around his pointer finger, smirking at Kelso. "Hey, need a lift?"

-x-

"Man, I guess this is a bit of a god send." Kelso said from the passenger's seat. He was staring down at the pink check, his mouth quirked. Steven downshifted, flipping on the turn signal as he neared the stop sign at the end of Leo's street.

"How's that?" Steven asked, glancing at the pink check in Kelso's hands. Jackie's loopy handwriting was teasing him with questions.

"Jackie," Kelso said, as if that explained it all. He crumpled up the check, dropping it onto the bench seat between them.

They were quiet for a bit as Steven steered them into Kelso's neighborhood. The El Camino lurched as Steven learned the car's quirks.

Steven turned onto Kelso's street, the car lurching as he pressed hard on the accelerator, used to the Cruiser's touchy cylinder's. He eased on the gas pedal, his right hand gripping the gearshift tightly in his sweaty palm. Steven turned to look at Kelso next to him, prompting his friend to speak with a drawn out, "What about Jackie?"

He almost regretted asking about Jackie as soon as her name left his lips. Kelso pulled at the thighs of his jeans, smoothing the denim over his legs.

"Yeah, Jackie was going to make me her love slave in exchange for the money, or something like that. I was supposed to go to her place after I got the car, but I'll just call her and tell her you got the car." Kelso unsnapped his seat belt as his house came into view. Steven felt his face tighten into a scowl, his body stiff with tension. "A whole week of lovin'. Oh, well. At least I've still got Laurie."

Steven pulled up to the curb, pressing stiffly on the brake so that Kelso lurched forward in his seat. "Jackie agreed that you would be her love slave? To Do It? It _it?_ "

Kelso turned his doe eyes on Steven, gripping the door handle. "Yeah, man. The slave thing was her idea. I told you, man, Jackie and me, we're always gonna come back to each other. I'll always love her, man, and she'll always love me, no matter what she says otherwise."

"Yeah," Steven said gruffly. He watched Kelso clamber out of the car, hitting the gas before Kelso had made it halfway across the lawn. The El Camino's tires peeled out, leaving two long black streaks on the pavement, with the RMP gauge violently swinging from zero to five. He sped out of the neighborhood, gathering the attention of a few house, and out onto Green Bay Road, his eyes set on the open road before him. His knuckles tightened over the leather covered steering wheel, the skin growing white.

Steven drove aimlessly around town, his eyes dipping down to watch the gas gauge slowly sink towards E. He was too young for this existential life shit. For a moment he had a fleeting wish that he was more like Forman, or Kelso. With mothers who babied them and made them dinners that weren't questionable. More like them, but still him; still badass. He had a wish that he were more like Forman in the way that Donna and he had only ever been the others… There weren't Kelso's in the wings, reminding Steven of the fact that Jackie would never fully be his.

Snow had begun to fall as Steven pulled up to the reservoir, parking close to the water. He sat on the warm hood of the El Camino, his fingers smoothing a bent cigarette. He flicked the flint on his zippo, catching a flame and lit the cigarette, taking a deep inhale. The wind bit at his body, and he shivered, tucking the heels of his boots up onto the bumper of the Camino.

Holding the cigarette in his pointer and thumb, Steven looked out over the rippling water. The edges were starting to ice, the cattails frozen on their stalks. Biting wind cut through his thin jacket and Steven shivered, pulling it tight against his body. He looked around him, at the barren trees. This was the spot, he decided finally, with a gentle nod of his head. This was the spot where he had seen Jackie naked for the first time, at the beginning of summer when the gang had come to the reservoir and gone skinny-dipping. He saw back to that night, the gooseflesh that had covered her skin. And Kelso, holding her naked form close.

Jealousy licked at his heart. Steven's eyes dropped to the frozen earth, and he felt his heart pounding in his ears. Kelso was right; Jackie would go back to him. He had had her first, and chicks were weird like that, holding on to silly notions about First Love and Virginity. Steven wouldn't compare. He couldn't compare. _Fuck Them All Let Her Go._

Steven flicked the end of his cigarette, watching as the ash scattered in the growing breeze. The hood of the El Camino had grown cold, his limbs stiff.

He pressed the cigarette to his lips, taking a long last inhale, his minds eye focused on Jackie's check in Kelso's hand. He scoffed, muttering under his breath, "'Love slave'. What a fucking joke." Love slave, Jackie's love slave. The vision of Jackie's naked body under Kelso's sparked a rage that he hadn't felt in a long time. She writhed under his touch, her mouth puckered to kiss Kelso's, and her long legs wrapped about his hips, taking him completely into her body.

Anger competing with his jealousy, Steven slid off the hood of the Camino, and returned behind the wheel, cranking the key in the ignition. He needed to get away for a while. He needed to find a girl to get Jackie out of his fucking head. A love slave of his own.

Steven paused at the entrance to the reservoir, Green Bay Road empty to left and right. He clenched his teeth, grinding them in his growing ire. His head swiveled towards Point Place, where Jackie waited for him, and then to his right, towards freedom. The engine rumbled, the vibration echoing through the steering wheel into his hands. Cranking the wheel, Steven turned up the volume on the radio, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach that he was doing the wrong thing as he shifted gears, heading towards the highway, and away from Point Place.

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 **A/N:** **Don't hate me! It'll all work out for the best, I promise! …..Eventually.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 _Music was pulsing from the small building as Steven hurried across the dark, wet parking lot, pulling out his fake I.D. as he did. A small party of men in their twenties were in line before him, all weaving unsteadily on their feet and smelling heavily of alcohol and cologne._

 _Steven kept his head down, fingering his I.D. as the men in front of him trickled into the club, the sound of Van Halen's_ Everybody Wants Some _growing in pitch as the door was opened. The bouncer spared him a glance, giving Steven a long look that said he knew the I.D. was a fake before jerking his head, granting him access. A scent of vanilla and female sweat assaulted his nostrils as Steven stepped through the heavy, padded door into the strip club, his eyes sweeping across the lit stage, where three women danced on separate sides, each scantily clad and clinging to thick silver poles._

" _Hey, there Sugar." Steven turned to his right, his eyes sweeping over the waitress at his side. Under the dark red light, her heavily lidded eyes were seductive, and her heavy breasts were strapped into a corset just a size too small, pooling over the top wire of her bustier. She placed a hand on Steven's forearm, stepping close. "What's your poison?"_

" _Just a beer," Steven said, swallowing thickly. The waitress raised a penciled eyebrow. "And… a shot of bourbon."_

" _You got it," The waitress bumped her hip against Steven's before moving off towards the bar. "I'll come find you, Sugar."_

 _Steven took a seat at the stage, next to the bachelor party, tipping the waitress a dollar when she came back with his booze. She paused after she placed down his shot, watching as he tipped his head back, swallowing it in one gulp. Her hand reached out, resting on his thigh, testing at first, before sliding up to stop close to his crotch. Steven felt his member swell. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing to the bachelor party beside him._

" _You get in a fight with your girlfriend?"_

 _Steven grasped his beer, bringing it closer across the sticky wood bar encasing the stage. "Nope."_

" _You sure that not what's got you lookin' so blue, Sugar?" Her fingers squeezed lightly at his thigh. "She cheat on you? Break your heart?"_

" _I don't know," Steven replied, the music pulsating in his ears. He took a large swallow, his blood warming in his veins._

 _The waitress stepped closer, pressing her full chest to his arm. "For twenty bucks, I can take you somewhere private, and you can tell me all about this heartless girl of yours. What do you say, Sugar?"_

 _Steven looked up at her contemplatively. She was older than he had initially thought, her age revealed in the harsh light of the stage. Her heavy, thick foundation filled the deep lines around her eyes, the black shadow creased. Her pupils were dilated, wide black circles surrounded by stark white. Stretch marks covered the tops of her breasts, and her hands were roped with dark blue veins. When she spoke next, Steven's eyes were drawn to her mouth, though he missed what she said, focused on the way she formed her words. Her thin lips, painted with a glossy red lipstick. He turned away from her, taking a long pull from his beer, his eyes rising to the bright stage to watch as the stripper before him dipped low, her hands wrapping around her ankles, legs straight as she shook her bare ass at the men gathered next to him. The young stripper smiled devilishly at the watching men, basking in their catcalls, her eyes falling on each dollar bill that was thrown around her on the stage._

" _No, thanks, sweetheart, not interested."_

-x-

 _Oh, I've been cheated,_

 _Been mistreated,_

 _When will I be loved?_

 _When will I be loved?_

 _Tell me, when will I be loved?_

 _-When Will I Be Loved,_ Linda Ronstadt

November 1977

Burkhart Mansion

"So," Donna began, closing the door to Jackie's bedroom behind her with a snap. Her face was lit with an impish grin and she trotted across the plush carpet behind her midget friend, her long red hair loose about her shoulders. "How are things with _Hyde_?"

Jackie sighed, falling dramatically back across her bed. That was the million-dollar question, Jackie thought, her mouth suddenly growing dry. She brought her arm up to cover her eyes, her body bouncing on the mattress as Donna plopped next to her. Jackie licked her lips, and cried, "Oh, Donna, I don't even know!"

"Uh oh," Donna said, her voice holding her trepidation, and rising from the bed. She crossed the lush white carpet, stopping before Jackie's record collection. Donna flipped through the vinyl lackadaisically, her nose upturned at the artists she found. "Trouble in paradise?"

Jackie dropped her arm to her side, huffing indignantly. She chewed on her lower lip, working it between her teeth. Her eyes stung with hot, unshed tears and she felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest. "I haven't seen him in a few days, actually. It's like everything was fine! More than fine, great! And then he just disappears!"

A tightening spread across Jackie's chest and she heaved a great sigh, feeling as though she could cry like a baby. She hadn't seen Steven since he had walked her home after their last sleepover, nearly four days ago. And she missed him. Desperately. The way he smelt, the feel of his skin on hers. His kiss.

Donna shook a vinyl from its case, setting it down on Jackie's turntable. She remained quiet, setting the needle to the first track and came back to sit beside Jackie as Linda Ronstadt's dulcet voice filled the room. Donna fell onto her back, her red hair mingling with Jackie's dark locks on the comforter, her blue eyes pinging from her distraught friend, to the white ceiling and back. "Did you say something, y'know, bitchy?"

"No," Jackie bit out petulantly. "We spent a beautiful night together, in his old room at the Forman's. He walked me home and kissed me on the porch and I haven't seen him since."

"Wait, wait, wait," Donna said, her hand rising into the air, fingers spread. Her voice grew in pitch, seemingly excited, and Jackie watched Donna's mannish, unpolished hand fall between them, and wrap around her own pink tipped fingers. "You and Hyde have _slept together_?"

" _No_." Jackie drawled.

"So you just, what, _cuddled_?" Donna asked, releasing Jackie and reaching into her pocket and pulling out a crumpled joint. "Damn," Donna muttered, her fingers smoothing over the paper. She righted the joint, placing it between her lips and dug in her pocket for her lighter.

Jackie sighed again, her eyes rolling hard in their sockets. Sweet smoke drifted from Donna's lips and nostrils, and Jackie took the proffered joint without complaint. She brought it down to her mouth, pausing before she inhaled. "We just did, you know, other stuff."

Taking a deep hit, Jackie passed the joint back to Donna, releasing her smoke up towards the ceiling.

"Other stuff?" Donna asked cynically. She took a small hit, her blue eyes squinting. "Other stuff, like what?"

They passed the joint between them, Donna brushing a bit of ash from her fingers. Jackie smiled, her body light as the marijuana soaked into her veins. Her eyes drifted closed and she could see Steven's naked body in her mind, the way he had hovered over her, his mouth on her breasts. "You know, Donna, foreplay. For instance, I don't think I've ever felt like I could cum just from nipple play, but the way Steven's mouth feels on my-"

"Ok, ok!" Donna interrupted, taking the joint from Jackie with a jerk. "There's no need to go into detail."

"Well, you asked," Jackie argued, her feet beginning to swing over the side of the bed. "Don't you and Eric mess around before doing it?"

"Yeah, I guess," Donna said softly, her eyes narrowed at the white popcorn ceiling. She pinched the roach between her pointer finger and thumb, her arm falling slightly to the right, away from Jackie. "I mean, yeah, we mess around, a bit, before, you know, the act of doing it." Donna grew quiet. Jackie turned her head to look at Donna's profile. "Eric's never like _sucked_ my nipples though…"

Jackie's fingers played with the hem of her shirt, her head pivoting away from her friend. "Hasn't he ever tried?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, he kisses my breasts… but I just think it's weird to suck on them." Donna replied, passing the dwindling joint to Jackie. Donna crossed her arms under her ample breasts, her feet kicking in time with Jackie's over the side of the bed. "I mean… Does it really feel good?"

Jackie took a large hit. "The way Steven does it, it does. Maybe Eric just isn't good in bed." She waved the joint between them. The air had grown heavy with smoke, and Jackie coughed, holding the joint out for Donna to take. "He's not very strong, and you need a man, a real man, in the bedroom, Donna. One who you can't overpower yourself."

"Hey!" Donna burst, snatching the joint from Jackie's fingers. "Eric's not all that weak! There are times… Well, sometimes he- Dammit!"

"It's all about finesse and skill," Jackie continued on, as if Donna hadn't spoken. "When Steven has his mouth on me, it's like he worships me. He's more concerned with me cumming before he does. And he's never asked me to give him a blowjob. God, that's all Michael cared about."

"Huh," Donna said. Jackie plucked the joint from Donna and sat up quickly to drop the roach into the little porcelain bowl by her bed, falling back to lie beside Donna with a grunt. Their shoulders were pressed against the others and Jackie began to hum along to Linda's voice. Donna seemed embarrassed as she divulged more information, her voice full of justification. "Eric tries to wait. But he's never been very good about giving."

"You wouldn't think it, looking at my Steven, but he's _very_ giving." Jackie bragged, her lips spreading into a goofy grin.

Donna chewed on the inside of her cheek, her eyes glazed. "So, what, does he just like, suck on them? And that feels good?"

"No, Donna, he doesn't just suck on them," Jackie said. Her cheeks grew warm with memory. "He uses his tongue and his teeth and his hands and it's just… Amazing."

"Maybe Eric could be amazing at it too," Donna wondered aloud.

"I doubt it," Jackie mumbled, scoffing under her breath.

The girls grew silent, listening to the music. Donna's hands were restless on her stomach. She turned her head to look at Jackie and then back to the ceiling, mouth puckered. "So, you two really haven't done it yet?"

"No, I want it to be special." Jackie retorted, growing defensive. "Not rushed. I want to take things slow with Steven. Not make the same decisions I made with Michael. Make sure he's not some cheating asshole."

"That makes sense," Donna acquiesced. "Although, I honestly don't think Hyde would ever cheat on you. Or anyone he was with, for that matter." They dropped back into a comfortable silence. Donna hummed to Linda, matching harmony with Jackie. She then began to giggle, a snort escaping her nostrils. "What does it look like?"

"What does what look like?" Jackie's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"You know… Hyde's thing."

Jackie slapped Donna's shoulder. "Ew, Donna! Like I'm going to tell you that!"

"Oh, come on, Jackie!" Donna said, bursting into laughter. "I'll tell you what Eric's looks like."

Jackie popped up off the bed, waving her hands through the air. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I do _not_ want to know what Eric's pecker looks like."

Donna continued to giggle. "Alright, alright, no need to have a conniption."

The record clicked, finishing it's last song and Jackie moved across the room to flip it over, resetting the needle. Donna sat up on Jackie's bed, her eyes scanning the room. She stood leisurely, wandering over to Jackie's vanity and began sorting through the paraphernalia.

Jackie squealed with delight, clapping her hands together, seized with a sudden thought. "Oh, my God, Donna! You know what would be fun?"

Donna grimaced, turning to look at Jackie, a tube of mascara in her large hand. "What?"

"We should give each other makeovers!" Jackie skipped across the room, stopping at Donna's side. She pulled her makeup case closer, sorting through the collection of eye shadows and lipsticks. Jackie paused, a palette of blush and bronzer in hand. "Well, obviously, I don't need a makeover, but I've been dying to teach you how to do your makeup for years."

"What's wrong with my makeup?" Donna asked, stooping to look at herself in the vanity mirror, turning to look at the left side and then the right side of her face.

"What isn't wrong with your makeup, Donna?" Jackie said, pushing on Donna's shoulders so the taller girl fell with an _oomph_ onto the vanity's poof chair. Donna watched apprehensively as Jackie pulled out various compacts, chattering away. "I mean, you are definitely a warm-tone, I don't know why you think _frosted pink lipstick_ is the right color for you. And that blue eye shadow, what a catastrophe. I mean, do you even look at yourself in the mirror before you leave the house?"

Donna puffed out her cheeks, exhaling long and slow. She clasped her hands together, pinning them between her knees. "This is going to be a blast."

-x-

Jackie's eyes popped open, staring across her dark bedroom, her heart thumping against her ribs.

She laid still, on her left side, waiting with bated breath as a noise filled her room again, the one that had woken her, a rock pinging off her window. Jackie peered over the side of her bed, at Donna curled on a small trundle bed, snoring softly. A pebble bounced off the wood window frame, louder, and Jackie pushed the covers from her body, tiptoeing around Donna to the window.

Pushing the white gauze curtain aside, Jackie peered down at the dim lawn, her heart faltering in her chest as her eyes landed on Steven's shadowed form. He motioned at her, his fingers curling, beckoning her to come outside. Jackie waved back, dropping the curtain back into place, and scurrying across to the door, grabbing her thick robe before leaving the room. She felt giddy as she closed the door gently after her, Donna's soft snores indication that she slept peacefully still.

The stairs creaked on her descent and Jackie nearly tripped on the Persian rug in her haste, banking the banister like a shot. Shoving her arms into the robe, Jackie hurried down the hall, palming the swinging door into the kitchen and across the smooth, cold tile towards the butler's pantry and the back door. Jackie unlocked the deadbolt, quickly stepping out into the bitter night onto the porch, her eyes sweeping across the expanse to Steven.

Steven was pacing in the yard, his breath leaving his mouth in white bursts. He seemed agitated, jumpy, and he barely spared her a glance as he continued to pace, back and forth, the frozen grass crunching under his boots. Jackie felt like she could fly at the sight of him, so close, and she rushed towards him, smiling like a loon. She launched herself at him, her arms extended, his name just forming on her lips when Steven grasped her wrists as they drew up to wrap about his neck, holding her at bay. He shook his head as he released her, continuing his pace. His skin was red with the cold, his lips chapped and looking as though he hadn't slept in a few days.

"Steven?" Jackie whispered, her eyes following his movements. "Where have you been? What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, sucking his lips into his mouth. Steven paused, his back to her, staring down at the street. Jackie took a step closer to him, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. Beer and perfume clung to his clothes and Jackie felt a thick bile rise up her throat. "Steven?"

"Are you still in love with Kelso?" Steven questioned abruptly, his voice impassive.

Jackie laughed, caught off guard. "What?"

"I'm serious, Jackie." Steven turned his body towards her, but his eyes focused on the grass under their feet. "Just tell me the truth."

"Why would you ask me that?" Jackie responded. Her heart was pounding in her chest and a sick crawl of adrenaline swept up her limbs, settling uneasily in her stomach. "I thought I'd already told you, I don't want Michael anymore. I haven't wanted him."

Steven's head rose, his eyes staring over her shoulder. The wind carried the thick, heady scent of sweat towards Jackie, and her eyes narrowed. Steven shuffled his feet, his hands on his hips. He sounded drunk, slurring his R's slightly. "Why did you offer to pay for the car?"

"To pay for the car?" Jackie parroted.

"Don't play stupid, you know what I'm talking about," Steven responded austerely, the impassive tone turning annoyed. "You gave him a check, Jackie."

Jackie's mouth opened and closed like a fish, speech catching at the back of her throat. She rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms about her stomach. The warmth she had felt at seeing him had leeched from her body and she shivered in the cold Wisconsin night. "Yeah, I gave him a check, Steven. I told him he would be my errand boy and that he would pay me back in full for the car. What's the big deal?"

"Errand boy?" Steven spat, his narrowed eyes finally looking at her.

Growing frustrated, Jackie cocked her hip, the corners of her lips quirking up. "What is this about, Steven?"

"Are you still in love with Kelso?" Steven asked again. His blue eyes glittered under the porch light. He looked haggard, someplace a million miles from Jackie.

"Well-" Jackie started, her eyes dropping.

"I knew it," Steven muttered, turning away. "Just forget it, Jackie."

"Knew what?" Jackie asked, genuinely confused.

Steven took off across the grass towards the surrounding fence. His body was stiff, his movements jerky and Jackie watched uncomprehendingly as he moved farther and farther from her. Sparing a glance up at the dark house, Jackie took off across the lawn.

"Wait!" Jackie called as loud as she dared. Steven was at the fence, his hands wrapped around the metal bars. "Steven, wait! Please!"

Steven was muttering under his breath, his body tense to prepare to scale the fence and Jackie rushed up behind him, grabbing two fistfuls of his jacket. He jerked, dislodging her, and raised his leg to gain purchase off the bricked pillar beside him. His voice was as cold as the air when he spoke. "Don't."

Tears had welled up in Jackie's eyes and they made hot trails down her cheeks. "Steven! I don't understand! Why are you being like this?"

"I feel enough like a fool, Jackie," Steven answered, his voice heavy with anger. He released the metal bars of the fence, but didn't turn towards her. His hand rose to his mouth, rubbing at the corners of his lips and he started to pace again.

"Just _talk_ to me!" Jackie sputtered as she began to bawl uncontrollably, mucous dripping from her nose. She wiped the back of her hand across her nose, taking a step closer. "Where have you been? You haven't been at the Forman's, or at school."

"I'm surprised you even noticed," Steven spat.

Jackie pulled at his arm, drawing him to a stop and stepping around his body to face him. She pressed herself to him, wrapping her arms tightly about his waist. His clothes were cold on his body and Jackie wondered how long he had been outside. Steven's hand came up to her biceps, pushing her away from him. Grasping fistfuls of his jacket, Jackie latched on, ignoring the pungent smell of beer. "Let me go, Jackie."

"No," Jackie argued, gripping him harder. "I don't understand what's wrong with you. Please, talk to me. Why did you come here? Where have you been?"

Steven sighed, his fingers loosening on her arms. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Just answer my question, Jackie. Are you still in love with Kelso?"

"No," Jackie said emphatically. Her wet cheeks burned in the biting cold, but she stared up at Steven with wide eyes, refusing to break contact. "No, Steven."

"You don't love him?" Steven responded, skeptical. He brought his hands up to his face, scrubbing hard at his cheeks. "Jackie, this is just too much."

"You're not making any sense, Steven." Jackie tried to meet his gaze, but Steven was elusive. "What is too much? Where have you been?"

"Away." Steven muttered. He stared across the street, at the El Camino parked in the dark between two street lights, and then suddenly grasped Jackie's hand, dragging her across the lawn to the gate.

"Steven, what are you doing?" Jackie gasped. Steven didn't answer, but opened the gate, pulling her through it behind him. They jogged across the street, stopping by the car. Steven opened the driver's side door, motioning for Jackie to get in first.

Jackie slid across the leather bench seat, her drying eyes fixed on Steven as he slid in after her. He started the engine, cranking the heat, and Jackie moaned in satisfaction as the warm air blasted across her frozen body. The engine purred at its idle and Jackie sat perched on her knees, her eyes set on Steven next to her, his face lit up with the blue glow of the dash light. He was staring down at the steering wheel, picking at the leather covering.

"Steven, there's something you need to understand," Jackie began, licking her dry lips. "What I had with Michael, it wasn't what you're thinking. I love him, yes, but because he was something that was special to my past. He was my first everything, Steven, I can't help but love him." Steven rolled his eyes. "He wasn't always a bad boyfriend; sometimes he was actually sweet. It was once we made love that he changed. Don't you love your first?"

"No," Steven responded without hesitation. "I don't love her."

"Didn't you love her at all?" Jackie threw back, her voice hinting at desperation. "You slept with her."

"Jackie, it's not the same," Steven said, a bark of a laugh leaving his lips. "Guys don't have to love a girl to fool around with her."

"Oh," Jackie gasped, her eyes welling with fresh tears. "So you don't love me?"

Steven slapped his open palm on the steering wheel. "Dammit, Jackie, don't make this about you and me."

"It is about you and me, Steven!" Jackie sobbed, tears falling once more. "I gave Michael a check for a car, and you disappear for four days. Now you're accusing me of still being in love with him! What's happened?"

"Look, Kelso said that you gave him the check for the car in exchange for being his 'love slave', and it got me thinking, " Steven said, ignoring the vexed gasp that fell from Jackie's lips. His voice grew in pitch, his anger palpable but Jackie couldn't tell if it was from true anger or the fact that he was sharing emotions. Emotions that made him vulnerable, and appear weak, the exact opposite of the persona he worked hard to deny he possessed such things. "I just, I don't like feeling like this. Jealous and petty, and like a lovesick fool." Steven glanced at Jackie beside him and then away again, his eyes dropping to the steering wheel. "I don't like that Kelso had you first, ok?"

"Steven-" Jackie broke in, wrapping her fingers around his forearm.

"No, just listen, Jackie," Steven's voice rose, filling the cabin of the car. He swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing and Jackie sat back, letting the tension that had settled across her shoulders sink to her spine, her muscles tight with anticipation. Steven's hand dropped from the steering wheel to his lap, and he looked up at her dark house, the sound of the heater the only sound for a few seconds that felt like an eternity as Jackie sat waiting. "Do you remember the first time we saw each other? We were kids."

Jackie's brow creased. Her gaze shifted, and she was looking into the past, wearing a starched dress and patent leather shoes. "The Piggly Wiggly. You were stealing."

Steven looked at her, half of his face dark and the other blue in the light of the dash. "Jackie…" Steven's body relaxed into his seat and his licked his lips nervously. "I've wanted you to be mine for a long time. And now that I have you it feels like Kelso is still there between us."

"Oh, Steven." Jackie shifted her weight, her feet tingling with pins and needles as the circulation was cut off. Her tears had dried to her cheeks, leaving her skin feeling tight. Jackie's voice was low in her throat and she tried to hide the mocking tone that laced her words, though not successfully. "Are you jealous of Michael?"

"No, I'm not jealous of Kelso," Steven scoffed. "I just don't like the thought of him touching you."

Jackie brought her hand up to cup Steven's cheek, warmed from the heater pointed at them. He shivered at her touch and Jackie slid closer. "I never agreed to Michael being my 'love slave'. That was what he called it, even when I told him it wasn't what it was going to be. I told him he would be my errand boy, painting my toes, carrying my school stuff, things like that."

Steven nodded slowly. "Things like a boyfriend would do."

"Well-" Jackie started to refute. Her shoulders rose and she grimaced. "I can see how it sounds like that, but that's not how I meant it, Steven."

Steven chuckled sarcastically under his breath, turning away from Jackie. He seemed to deflate before her.

"Steven, you have to trust me," Jackie said softly, bringing her hand down from his cheek to curl around the back of his neck.

"Trust, huh," Steven's hand rose from his lap, coming to rest on her thigh. The weight of it was comforting. "I've never been good at trust. Never really had a great example of it, to be honest."

"I can understand that," Jackie said tenderly, dropping her head to his shoulder. "My parents aren't the best example of trust and love in a relationship either."

They grew quiet, staring ahead out the windshield at the barren street. White specks of snow were gathering at the base of the windshield and Jackie pressed her warm body close to Steven's, her body feeling drained as she came down from her weeping episode. She massaged her lips together, her fingers curling into the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. "Where were you?"

Steven exhaled forcefully, his fingers twitching on her thigh. His free hand rose to scratch at the side of his nose before he answered her. "Kenosha."

"Kenosha?" Jackie repeated. She shifted her weight, her head still resting on his shoulder. "What were you doing in Kenosha?"

"Trying to forget how I feel about you," Steven responded.

"What?" Jackie exclaimed, surprised. She jerked up, her round eyes fixed on his profile. Her breathing grew rapid, a short, heated pant that burst from her nostrils. "Did you- Steven, did you _sleep_ with someone?"

"No," Steven said adamantly. "No, Jackie, I didn't sleep with anyone."

"You better not be lying to me, Steven Hyde," Jackie cried, pulling away from him completely. Steven reached towards her, turning in his seat to face her. His warm palms rubbed at her thighs, kneading soothing circles over her pajama bottoms.

"Jackie, I swear, I'm not lying to you." Steven's eyes showed his honesty. He licked his lips again, rolling his eyes as if he already regretted what he was about to say. "I went to a strip club, alright? Slept in the parking lot. _By myself_."

"A strip club?" Jackie sneered incredulously. "For four days?"

Steven grumbled, his cheeks round with air. "Yes."

Jackie cocked her head, studying Steven's drawn visage. "This isn't going to be a recurring thing, is it? I'm not going to have to worry about you running off to strip clubs whenever something happens between us, am I?"

Steven burst into laughter, deep belly laughs that rang in Jackie's ears. She crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pursed. "I don't see what's so funny, _Hyde_."

"Jackie, it was one time, and nothing happened!" Steven exclaimed, wiping at his eyes where tears of mirth had gathered. "It's not like this is a serial occurrence."

"Well, not yet!" Jackie threw back. Steven shook his head, curls bouncing. "Steven, I'm being serious."

Steven's head dropped to the back of his seat, his limbs limp after his bout of laughter. "Jackie, weren't you the one just talking about trust?"

Jackie sputtered, working to form words. "Its-! That's just- That's not at all the same! I wasn't around naked men who were dancing for my money!"

"Ugh, gross," Steven said. He made a face, grimacing as he mocked a dry heave. "Who wants to see a dude's junk waving in their face to, what, Foreigner? Sister Sledge?"

Steven reached forward, turning down the dial on the heat. The windows had sufficiently fogged over, condensation running in rivulets down the panes, obscuring the outside world. Jackie felt they could have been the last ones on the planet, alone in Steven's car. She was drawn out of her reverie by Steven's hands on her waist. His warm mouth pressed to the column of her throat, a soft kiss that instantly turned her on to him.

"Sneak me in," Steven mumbled against her skin. His hands at her waist wadded the fabric of her wool pajama top in his fingers, drawing her closer. Jackie's eyes drifted shut, allowing him to pull her onto his lap. "Jackie… I've missed you. Let's go upstairs."

"I can't, Donna's sleeping over," Jackie responded breathlessly.

"What?" Steven pulled back, his lips parted and starting to swell from his treatment of her flesh. "Donna? I didn't think you two were all that close?"

Jackie licked her lips, catching Steven's stare as he followed the movement. "She's actually been a lot different lately. Cooler. Nicer."

Steven's eyebrows twitched. "Huh, imagine that."

"And, well," Jackie began, rocking her pelvis over his hips. Steven's lids grew heavy with lust. "She knows."

"Knows? Who?" Steven's hands curled under her robe to cup her shoulder blades. His mouth returned to her neck, working up to her jaw in indulgent caresses.

Jackie's head fell back at the sensations he was stirring in her body. Her hands drifted down his chest, her hips working over his. "Yeah, Donna. She knows."

Steven's hips rose to meet hers, his harden length pressing into her hot center. He nipped at her skin, his hands sweeping around to cover her breasts. "Donna knows what?"

"About us." Jackie breathed, her fingers dropping to his pot leaf belt buckle.

"You told her?" Steven asked, pulling away. His hands stopped, but remained over her top, his thumbs absently moving in small pendulum strokes over her nipples. "Wait, I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"She guessed," Jackie supplied, her shoulders rising and falling quickly. Steven scowled at her, his thumbs stopping their movement. Pressing her body down over him and pouting, Jackie whined, "She pinched my leg really hard Steven!"

"How long?" Steven asked, frozen under her. "How long has she known?"

"Since Michael lost the van," Jackie shrugged again, bending to kiss his mouth. Steven responded in kind, his tongue briefly touching tips with hers before he drew back.

"Wait, so what have you told her?" His body began to relax under hers as Jackie's hips continued their rolling movement over him. His fingers curled at her breasts, his breath hot on her face.

"Nothing really," Jackie replied. "Just… Little things."

"Uh huh." Steven wasn't sure he completely believed her, but the feeling of her warm body in his hands was enough to make him push aside his doubts. Jackie slanted her mouth over his, her hands rising from his belt buckle to tangle in his hair. They kissed passionately, their hands pressing and touching, canvassing areas they had already learned. Steven's warm breath on her skin was enough to make Jackie crazy with want, but she pulled back, her fingers stroking the base of his skull.

Jackie pressed a soft kiss to Steven's mouth, sliding off his lap. He groaned in distress, his hands gripping at her waist. "What? What's wrong?"

"Not in a car, Steven," Jackie said. "Not the first time, at least."

Steven's head fell back against the seat once more, his eyes squeezed shut. "Woman. You're going to be the death of me."

"Soon, Steven, I know it," Jackie promised.

Sighing histrionically, Steven's eyes opened lazily, staring up at the padded ceiling of the El Camino. "I'm turning into Forman. Do you know how long Donna teased him with sex? Months, Jackie, months. I haven't hit a dry spell like this since I lost my virginity."

"I just don't want the first time to be in a car, ok?" Jackie said, sliding her palm across Steven's upper thigh. His eyes shifted to focus on her face. Her fingers trekked across his leg, her warm palm cupping over his crotch. She worked her hand, rubbing at his erection through his jeans, enjoying the sight of his mouth opening slightly, the way his eyes remained trained on her face. She held eye contact, releasing him to work his belt loose, pulling the leather from its clasp. His breath hitched in his throat as Jackie unhooked the button to his jeans, drawing her lower lip into her mouth. "But, I won't leave you wanting."

"Jackie, I wasn't asking-" Steven started.

"I know," Jackie interrupted, her fingers stroking at the waistband of his boxers, dipping under the elastic to touch the mushroom head of his dick with her fingertips. Steven reached towards her, but Jackie pushed him back. "I want to make you feel good, Steven."

"You do make me feel good," Steven asserted mellifluously, his eyes dropping to his lap and then back up to Jackie. He raised his hips as Jackie pulled at the waist of his jeans, growing slightly awkward as she exposed his lower body.

Jackie grasped his shaft, letting saliva pool in her mouth. Her thumb swept over the head of his dick, gathering a drop of pre-cum, her eyes sweeping up to watch Steven's reaction. He sank lower in his seat, his knees spreading wide, his lustful face lit up from the dash light, and Jackie took a deep breath, taking him into her mouth with a sigh of content.

-x-

"Where were you?" Donna asked as Jackie closed her bedroom door behind her, the lock clicking softly.

"Huh?" Jackie asked distractedly, her palms pressing to the wood. "Oh, nowhere. I was thirsty."

"For an hour?" Donna rebutted.

Jackie hurried across her room, sliding into bed and pulling the cold sheets over her body, kicking her feet so the covers billowed over her. She grasped the edges of the sheet and comforter, drawing them under her chin securely. "Oh, what does it matter, Donna? Just go back to snoring!"

"What?" Donna said, rising up to her elbows on the trundle bed. "I don't snore!"

"You could peel paint with your snores, you Lumberjack!" Jackie argued, shivering with cold beneath her comforter. She rubbed her tongue along the roof of her mouth, tasting Steven. She wished he were here, spooning her to his chest.

"Whatever, Jackie," Donna said, falling back to the bed. "Sweet dreams, princess."

-x-

Jackie flew at Michael, her open palms striking at his head. "You stupid, _idiot_! How could you say that to him! What did I ever see in you?" A well-landed kick to the shin sent Michael to his butt, scrambling up despite the continued onslaught of her striking hands. "You are the stupidest man I have ever met!"

Kelso fell back against the recess wall of the basement steps, his arms rising to cover his face. "What? What are you yammering about, Jackie? Ow! _Owwww!_ Stop hitting me! Damn!"

Fez gasped from the top of the stairs, his slender hands rising to cover his mouth. "Not the face, Jackie! That's his money!"

Jackie struck harder at Fez's words, blinded by her anger, intermingling sharp jabs to his shin. Michael yelped as Jackie slapped her open palm across his cheek, bringing the flesh to a sharp red on his smooth skin. Jackie drew back, surprised in herself, staring down at her stinging hand with wide eyes. Fez trotted down the stairs towards the pair of ex-lovers, his dark eyes sweeping between them with trepidation. He touched Jackie's arm tentatively, his warm hand anything but comfort. It's weight anchored Jackie's feet, and she found she was panting with the force of her anger.

Michael brought his chocolate eyes to look at Jackie, his hurt palpable in the air. His fingers rose to his face, not quite touching the ruddy skin. Betrayal hung between them, and Jackie drew a deep, shuddering breath. Kelso fell back, resting against the recess wall, his eyes fixed on his old lover. "What the hell, Jackie?"

"I'm… Michael, I'm sorry," Jackie began, tears clouding her vision. Her hands rose before her body, her thin, long fingers spread wide, the sting of her slap resounding into her palm and up her arm. A sense of helplessness zoomed over her and she swallowed throatily over her tears. "I just… I got swept up in the moment, Michael."

Fez dropped a hand to Michael's shoulder, moving away from Jackie in the narrow stairwell. "Kelso let it go."

"No," Michael said, shrugging off Fez's hand. His eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Jackie. She shrank away, her shoulder blades biting into the rough concrete wall behind her. Never had he looked at her with such disdain, such pure revulsion directed at her. Michael took a step to steady himself. "What's up with you, Jackie? You've been nothing but a bitch ever since we broke up."

"Probably because you cheated on me, Michael," Jackie responded hotly, her tears growing, obscuring her vision entirely. The fingers of both hands curled to tight C's, the nails biting into her skin, leaving half-moons on the heels of her palms. "You broke my heart."

"You think you didn't break _mine_? Jackie, you pushed me away," Michael bit out vehemently. "You pushed me to do this!"

"What?" Jackie volleyed. A rogue tear fell, speeding down her face and stopping at her jaw. "How? All I did was love you! I gave you everything, Michael!"

Michael looked away, briefly regarding Fez at his side. The foreigner's eyes were round, and he looked between the pair, his fingers picking at the cuffs of his jacket. Kelso chewed the inside of his cheek, before looking up at his ex. His voice was thick with emotion; his eyes shinning brightly with unshed tears. "You were so condescending, Jackie. You never believed in me. You made me feel like I was the lowest scum of the earth. Like I would never be able to provide for you. And those girls… They made me feel special."

"Girls?" Jackie's ears pricked at the word. Sharp jealousy curdled sourly in her belly. " _Girls_? How many others were there, _exactly_ , Michael?"

Fez stepped between them, laying a hand on each of their shoulders. "Is this really necessary? Can't this wait till later, perhaps when Charlie's Angels isn't on?" He laughed awkwardly, dwindling back into silence at the glare Michael and Jackie fixed on him.

"No, Fez, it can't!" Jackie cried, shoving him away. Fez stumbled back up the next stair, his eyes falling to the snow at his feet. Kelso avoided her irate scowl, and Jackie felt like her heart was splintering all over again, like she was once more watching Laurie's manicured claws sweep through Michael's hair as they kissed in Mrs. Forman's kitchen. Only now, there were more, more girls. She imagined Pam Macy and every other slut that lived in Point Place lying beneath Michael, and her heart splintered into two clean clefts. "Girls, Michael? How many were there?"

Michael had the decency to look away, his brown eyes soft with shame. "I don't know, Jackie. A few."

"Michael-" Jackie gasped, her voice thick with tears. They began to fall in earnest over her apple cheeks. "How could you?"

"What's going on?"

Jackie turned to see Steven at the top of the stairs, his cobalt eyes pinging from Fez, to Kelso, to Jackie's tear-streaked face, and back. His hands were deep in his pockets, fresh snow clinging to his curls. He took the first couple of steps, pausing in his descent as he took in the scene, assessing the tension filling the stairwell. Michael and Jackie avoided the others gaze, Jackie crying softly as Michael's fingers stroked his flushed cheek.

"I think I need to get home," Michael said stiffly, shouldering past Fez. The foreigner watched his best friend scurry up the stairs, sparing a glance back to Jackie, before following Kelso up the steep stairs.

Steven stepped aside, letting them pass, his face showing his confusion. He took a few steps closer to Jackie. "What's happened? Jackie?"

Jackie sank to her bottom, weeping into the sleeves of her wool coat. The heels of Steven's boots echoed off the recess walls as he hurried towards her down the steps, not stopping till his arms were wrapped tight about her body, pulling her to him. Jackie thrust herself into his embrace, locking her arms about his neck, sobbing hysterically into his collar.

Steven's hands rose, patting her back soothingly. "Come on, come inside."

"The others," Jackie gasped, her eyes swollen. She swept her fingers over her face, wiping at the tracks of saline. "Eric is down there."

"Fuck it," Steven spat, gathering her in his arms, propping her to her feet.

The basement was blessedly, and unexpectedly, empty when Steven and Jackie burst through the door, Jackie's face feeling tight as she sniffled pathetically. They traversed the space to his old room swiftly, Jackie grateful that no one else was witness to her blubbering mess of a self. Steven locked the door to his old bedroom behind him, turning to Jackie with concern. He gripped her biceps, squeezing her flesh in his hands roughly. "What's happened?"

The waterworks started afresh and Jackie let loose with a pathetic wail, one that started deep in her belly and rose up her body in a long wave, stopping somewhere in her vocal chords in a deep caterwaul. She pushed Steven away, turning to fall upon her stomach to his cot, pulling the blankets he had left from their previous visit to her face, bunching the itching wool to her eyes. She sobbed, hard and long, for some time, feeling quite alone. Her stomach ached, and her throat itched when Jackie finally came down from her hysterics, noticing at once that Steven had not rushed to her side to comfort her. Rubbing the crocheted blanket under her eyes, Jackie hiccupped, rising to sit on the cot. The blanket pooled in her lap, and Jackie wrapped her arms tightly about herself, drawing her legs up under her body.

Jackie turned her head, immediately landing on Steven across from her, ensconced in the musty green armchair. He was chewing at the second knuckle of his middle finger, his eyes unblinking as they regarded her.

Swiping her palms across her cheeks, Jackie sniffled, feeling quite ridiculous. She manipulated the blanket, her fingers dipping into the crochet, working some of the yarn free. "Michael had many lovers."

Steven was quiet, his eyes never leaving her. His teeth released his knuckle, his fingers coming to rest against his closed lips.

"Apparently, multiple girls at once," Jackie continued, fishing for his response. They stared at one another for some time, Jackie's chest rising and falling hard. She felt like she was trapped in some sort of nightmare, stuck on a loop through her own personal hell. " _While_ we were together."

Steven cleared his throat, finally breaking eye contact. He opened his mouth to speak, than snapped his jaws shut, his hand falling from his face.

"You knew." Jackie stated. Steven's guilty eyes rose.

"Jackie…"

"You knew all along?" Jackie questioned. Another round of tears gathered in her eyes and she wondered when it would all come to an end. She was tired of crying, tired of feeling so weak in front of Steven. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Does everyone know?"

Steven pressed his lips together in a hard line, giving Jackie the answer she needed. She nodded her head slowly, scrunching her lids closed. Her eyes burned, and her throat felt tight, the muscles constricting so she gasped to breath.

"Jackie," Steven began, scooting to the edge of the chair. "He's my friend. You don't rat on your friends."

"No, don't bother explaining, Hyde." She spat the words at him, her anger shifting from Michael to Steven. Right now, she detested them both, these men that did nothing but lie to her. Jackie turned her gaze up to the bare bulb in the center of the room, letting her retinas burn under the harsh forty-watt light. She heaved a great sigh, her shoulders drooping as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, coursing down her temples to her ears.

"Don't, Jackie," Steven pressed, his hands clasping before him. "You don't understand what it was like, to know, to see him like that, and not be able to tell you."

"You _saw_ him with other girls?" Jackie cried, turning to Steven, seeing only white from the bulb she had been staring at. Her heart stuttered in her chest and felt as though she had been stabbed. Maybe she had, she thought, her hand rising to cover her heart. This is what betrayal from all sides felt like.

Steven shook his head, his lower lip drawn between his teeth. Gradually, his outline came into focus, the first that she determined on being his cobalt eyes hooked on her. He was shifty, his posture tight. Clearing his throat, Steven's palms slid together, and he spoke clearly, without hesitation. "No, just Laurie."

Jackie swallowed a fresh sob, her eyes falling to her lap. "Don't lie to me, Steven."

"I'm not," Steven asserted, standing from the armchair. He squatted before her, his hands falling to her knees. "Jackie, I'm not lying to you. Truth be told, I'm a terrible liar."

Jackie pushed his hands off of her, feeling extremely silly. She stood unsteadily to her feet, walking as quick as she dared across the room to the door. Her hair felt flat, and she just knew her makeup was streaked and runny. She needed a hot bath. She needed to get away from everyone and just be alone. To bring herself back to her super cute self, where nothing bad happened. She fumbled with the lock on his door, cursing under her breath.

Steven appeared at her side, his hand covering hers on the door handle. He tugged at her digits, his voice soft, hinting at his growing ire. "Are you mad at me?"

"What do you think?" Jackie spat, wrenching her hand away and turning her back to him.

The air around Steven grew charged behind her and his voice was laced with annoyance when he spoke again. "I didn't cheat on you, what're you mad at me for?"

Jackie spun around. "You could have said something! How can I trust you, now, if you've kept something this big from me? For however long!"

"Jackie, this is ridiculous," Steven argued, taking a defensive stance before her. "I couldn't tell you something like that. It just would've hurt you."

"No, Hyde," Jackie said, jabbing her pointer finger into his sternum. "This is what hurts. This moment, right here, right now. Knowing that you knew all along, all of you knew, how much I loved him and all the while I'm looking like a damn fool while Michael's out cavorting with sluts! I can't trust you, Steven!"

"So that's what you're sticking with? That you can't trust me?" Steven's eyes were hard, the blue cold as ice, sharp enough to cut her. "This is how it's going to end?"

Jackie nearly stumbled back, shocked at his words. End? No, this couldn't end. Words bubbled up in her throat, but she swallowed them down, crossing her arms tight under her breasts. She was too upset, too emotional. Love had betrayed her, had left her standing like a dumbass in the rain and she bolstered herself to weather the storm alone, sure that Steven would make a move to prove his adoration to her, to convince her she could trust him, no matter what had happened. Any moment he would break, he would wrap her in his arms and press soft kisses to her mouth, whispering all the things that she most needed to hear. It's what boyfriends did, any loser knew that, and Jackie waited, her eyes set expectantly on Steven across the rag rug from her. She needed him to work for it, she needed him to walk her home so she could refresh herself, and work through her emotions.

Steven snorted in derision, stalking across the room. "Fuck this, Jackie. I don't need this."

"Oh, great, Steven, just walk away!" Jackie threw at his back as he jerkily unlocked the door. "Go! Run off to another strip club!"

He didn't answer, his feet pounding on the concrete out of his old bedroom and into the basement, past a stunned Donna and Eric cuddled together on the couch. Jackie rushed out after him, her nose tingling with tears. Steven ignored his two friends on the couch, slamming the basement door behind him, the panes shaking in their frames.

"Jackie?" Eric said, bringing his head around to look at her as she came around the side of the couch. "What were you and Hyde doing back there?"

Donna shushed her boyfriend. "Jackie? Are you ok?"

"No!" Jackie cried, falling to the couch. She turned to Donna, her head dropping to her shoulder as she burst into sobs. She was incoherent in her pain, unsure of how it had all fallen away from her so quickly. "Michael-" _hic hic_ "Michael cheated on me with more than Laurie!" deep belly sobs washed over her. "And-! Now Steven hates me!"

"Oh," Eric said from Donna's other side. He awkwardly patted the top of Jackie's head, his eyes sympathetic. "There, there, Jackie. Hyde's always hated you."

"Eric, can you go get me a pop?" Donna asked, shoving at his body.

"Sure thing," Eric popped up off the couch racing gratefully for the stairs. He pounded up the steps and Donna waited till the door to the kitchen slammed closed before she spoke to Jackie.

"How did you find out?" Donna asked, her arm wrapping comfortingly around Jackie's shoulders. "Did Hyde tell you?"

"No!" Jackie moaned, sliding out of Donna's touch. She squinted angrily at her friend beside her before reaching out to pinch her thigh. "Guess who didn't tell me either, _Donna_!"

"Ow!" Donna yelped. "Damn, Jackie!" She shoved Jackie's shoulder, sending the smaller girl to the floor.

"Watch it!" Jackie yelled, springing up off the floor, smoothing her hair from her watery eyes. "Everyone knew! And no one bothered to tell me!"

"Jackie, how do you tell someone that?" Donna yelled back, standing from the couch. "It's not like none of us tried!"

Jackie sniffled, confusion sweeping over her. "Wait, what?"

"We tried, Jackie!" Donna said stiffly, her cheeks red. "Well, maybe not Eric, but Hyde definitely tried. He set traps left and right for you to discover Kelso. Vanstock for instance?"

"He should've just told me!" Jackie burst out, throwing her hands up, refusing to let go of her anger towards Steven.

Donna licked her lips, pointing an accusing finger at Jackie. "Look, there's just something you don't do, Jackie, and it's rat on your friends."

Jackie cocked a hip, her eyebrows rising on her forehead. "Well, then, if Eric ever cheats on you, I'll be sure to keep the information to myself."

"Eric wouldn't cheat on me," Donna threw back, sure in herself.

Turning on her heel, Jackie wrenched open the exterior door, a gust of bitter wind washing over her. "Yeah, and I thought Michael was The One."

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 **A/N: Dun, dun, duuunnnnnnnn. Angst, pure angst. Don't worry, there will be a happy ending. Scout's honor!**

 **On another note, the timeline for this show is very scattered. Every season has a Christmas/Thanksgiving episode and yet, the show covers only '76-'79. I've tried to keep the canon of the show somewhat true, given that I've changed the whole Hyde/Jackie/Kelso triangle slightly. That being said, it's going to get harder before it gets easier. Stick with me little ducklings! As always, please review, and sorry for any errors.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

-x-

Point Place, Wisconsin

December 22, 1977

 _Emptiness,_

 _Is a place you're in_

 _With nothing to lose_

 _But no more to win_

Steven sighed heavily, staring up at the warped, cracked ceiling of his bedroom. A thin stream of plaster fell to the foot of his bed as the upstairs occupant moved about their apartment, stomping their feet at the music that pounded from the his own living room. Freezing air penetrated the windows and seeped into his room, and Steven shivered, his teeth clenched tightly together.

 _The sun ain't gonna shine anymore_

 _The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky_

Rolling onto his side, Steven punched at his pillow, working it into a more comfortable pile under his head. He yawned with exhaustion, his weighty lids closing over burning eyes. Snow fell heavily outside his window, covering the panes in stars of ice.

Tonight was his big Christmas Rager. Tonight, most of the junior and senior class at school would be gathered in his run-down apartment, drinking cheap beer and enjoying a good party.

Kelso had made sure to invite some slutty girls, and Steven sighed at the thought. He glanced sideways down at the sheets on his bed, raising his arm to lift the covers briefly. They were ratty and stained, and in need of a wash. An odd smell of mildew clung to the fibers. He'd toss them in the wash before everyone got here. Whatever girl he got into bed with him tonight deserved that much, he supposed, slutty or not.

Tonight, someone was getting laid. Hopefully, it would be him.

 _The tears are always clouding your eyes_

 _When you're without love_

His eyes landed on the keg, covered with a moth-eaten plaid blanket, chilling in the freezing air in the corner of his room. Edna was gone, had been for a few days, and Bud had guaranteed she'd be gone for a while, a note of bitterness lacing his words. And Bud, well, Bud had to work tonight. He only had one rule: "If they puke, just make sure it ain't on my bed. Oh, and no sex on my bed either. The springs on the mattress poke out, someone could lose an eye. Or get tetanus."

Steven pulled the thin comforter up his body, tucking it under his chin, his hands clasping the ends close to himself in a desperate attempt to keep out the cold. His legs curled close to his chest, his socked feet rubbing against each other over the mattress. The clock on his bedside table read 7:37 am, in red glaring script and Steven rolled his eyes, as the music coming from the living room was turned louder, the vibrations shaking the pictures on the wall.

 _Lonely,_

 _Without you baby_

 _Girl I need you_

 _I can't go on_

Bud began to sing, his voice a deep timber with his drunkenness. The echoes of his stumbling footfalls thudded through the floorboards into Steven's room. A tinkling sound of an empty can hitting the wall and Bud belched loudly. Steven's eyes narrowed.

Steven rolled onto his back. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, harder and harder, until white stars exploded on the back of his lids. Bud had come home about an hour ago, and compulsively played The Walker Brothers on repeat, his voice cracking on each note as he bellowed along with the lyrics.

 _The sun ain't gonna shine anymore,_

 _The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky-_

It wasn't so much that Bud was being drunk and disorderly. Steven wasn't slow to admit that Bud was always drunk and disorderly. But this fucking record made him think of Jackie.

He'd been doing so good not thinking of Jackie, too. She'd avoided the basement, quickly making excuses as to why she needed to leave whenever they were in the same room together. At school, it was somewhat easier. Jackie was the year below him, and Steven skipped most of his classes anyway, getting high behind the gym with Timmy Richards and his prude girlfriend, who scowled at them the whole time and paced a tight circle that made Steven paranoid. The times he had seen Jackie, his eyes lingering slightly too long on her bare legs under her cheer skirt, he had worked his Zen high to his favor. He was the Zen Master. Faltering only when she had flounced past, shaking her shiny hair over her shoulders so her perfume clouded the air around her and Steven got the briefest sniff of her.

 _The sun ain't gonna shine anymore_

 _The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky_

Steven slapped his hands down at his sides on the mattress. His heart was pounding in his chest, and all he wanted was to fucking sleep.

Propping himself up onto his elbows, Steven bellowed, "Turn that crap off!"

The record scratched and silence briefly filled the apartment. Steven fell back to the bed, his eyes drifting closed. Then Bud started the record again, the volume turned to max. The walls shook and the upstairs neighbor pounded on his floor, sending more streams of plaster dust into Steven's room.

Bud appeared, swinging open Steven's door with a drunken stumble. He barely remained upright, clinging to the doorknob as he sang. " _Loneliness, is a cloak you weaaarrrrr!"_

"Bud! Cut it out!" Steven yelled, bringing his hands to his face.

" _A deep shade of blue, you always wear!"_ Bud swanned into the room, belting the lyrics and spilling beer all over the floor. He plopped heavily onto the end of Steven's bed, crushing his son's feet. " _The sun ain't gonna shine anymoooooorreeeee."_

"Get off, man!" Steven said, kicking at Bud's ass. Bud grunted, but remained dead weight. Steven kicked him again, harder. "Go turn that crap off! You're gonna get the cops called!"

"Yeah, yeah," Bud said, lying back across the end of the mattress. He dropped the nearly empty can of beer to the floor. It clattered on the hardwood and spilled the rest of its contents, soaking into the small rug by Steven's footlocker. Bud reached blindly to his side and patted Steven's calf. "Don't be such a sour puss, Stevie."

"Stevie?" Steven asked derisively, his head rising off the pillow.

Bud belched wetly, his fingers scratching at his rounded stomach. "Yeah, remember? I used to call you that."

"Yeah, when I was like five." Steven said, kicking the covers off his body. He stood from his bed and stalked out of the room, over to the record player and shutting it off.

"About fucking time!" A voice shouted through the thin walls.

"Ah, go to hell, Dick!" Bud hollered from Steven's room. He stumbled from the room as Steven shuffled into the kitchen. Steven opened the cupboards, looking for anything to eat, his peripheral vision watching Bud move about. Bud swayed on his feet, coming to a stop by the counter. He belched again, his stomach rumbling, before he turned and projectile vomited into the dirty sink.

"What the fuck, dad," Steven muttered, disgusted and shoving away the box of cereal he had been preparing to open.

Bud vomited again into the sink, a small belch followed by a steady stream of stomach acid and beer. He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing vomit across his cheek. "Good thing I did the dishes last night, huh."

"Spectacular," Steven agreed. He gagged as the scent of vomit filled the air and hurried towards the small bathroom. "I'm gonna shower."

"Yeah, alright." Bud stared down into the sink, reaching forward to turn on the tap. "I gotta work soon. Probably won't be home tonight."

Steven paused in the bathroom doorway. "I got that party tonight anyway."

"That's right," Bud mumbled, his eyes set on the vomit swirling with the water in the sink.

Steven closed the door on his father with a snap. Breaths left his body in sharp, angry bursts. He stopped before the sink, gripping its porcelain edges tightly. Ripples of rage shook his frame, cascading down his spine and tensing his muscles. The echoes of Bud's sick reached him through the wood door and Steven turned to start the shower, fraught to block Bud out.

Steam filled the small room, fogging over the tiny mirror over the sink. Steven stripped from his clothes, wrenching the shower curtain closed around him. The hot water burned his cold skin, but Steven stood resolutely beneath the steady stream.

Tonight… Tonight, he would get blackout, wasted drunk. Tonight, he wouldn't think about Jackie. Tonight, he would get laid for the first time in months.

-x-

Kelso carted the keg out of Steven's room, grunting with effort, his cheeks rounded and red. He paused by the couch, setting the keg roughly to the ground, a sheen of sweat shining on his brow.

Steven poured the last of the ice into the metal bathtub in the middle of the living room, his eyes steadfastly avoiding Jackie as she paced the kitchen, sticking close to Donna's side. Eric and Fez stood at the bar, arms crossed as they "helped" Steven get things set up, directing his movements. Eric clutched the beer tap in his hand, gesturing to Hyde to even out the ice.

"Over here, Kelso," Steven said, motioning for Kelso to bring the keg closer. Kelso flexed his arms, slinging a glance at Jackie. He hefted the keg, swinging around the couch. Steven grasped at the keg, helping Kelso drop it into the tub of ice.

"Where are the cups?" Donna asked, stopping at the bar close to Eric.

"Oh, yeah, uhm," Steven said, propping his hands on his hips. "We're going to have to make a trip to the store, grab some little things."

"You should've prepared _more_ than an hour before the party is supposed to start," Jackie harangued.

"Yeah, thanks for the heads up, Beulah," Steven bit back.

Jackie paused in her circuit of the apartment; her narrowed eyes trained on Steven. "No need to be an ass, _Hyde_."

Steven turned away, towards Eric and Fez. He hated that she had resorted to calling him by his last name again. "You guys ready?"

"I'm not going back out there," Eric said, shaking his head. He handed the tap over to Kelso. "It's a blizzard man. I only just got the feeling back in my toes."

"Fez?" Steven said hopefully, snatching his coat from the hook by the front door.

Fez peered down at his Santa bottoms. "Alright, I'll go. People like to try to sit on my lap and tell me their wish lists. Tis the season!"

"No one has tried to sit on your lap," Kelso said, screwing the tap in place.

"What all are you getting?" Jackie asked, taking a step closer. She was still wrapped up in her coat, her purse slung high on her shoulder. "Do you have any snacks? Bowls?"

"You don't need snacks," Steven said, slipping his arms into the warm coat. He gestured to the tapped keg. "There's beer."

"You're not even going to get chips?" Jackie said, hand on her cocked hip.

"There needs to be something to eat, Hyde," Donna agreed from her spot at the counter. She motioned behind her into the kitchen. "The cupboards are bare." Her eyes flicked down to the sink. "And it smells… Like someone got sick or something."

"Alright, fine!" Steven grabbed his wallet and keys, shoving them into his pockets. "I'll get some fucking chips."

"Hey, no need to be so testy," Donna said, her voice placating.

"I'll come too," Jackie said, stepping around the keg.

"No, thanks." Steven said, briefly meeting her eye.

"Hyde-" Jackie started, crossing her arms over her chest. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth, chewing the flesh to a sharp red.

Fez looked between the two, following Steven as he made his way to the front door. Fez picked up his red Santa jacket, slipping it over his body. "Why not? She can pay for the food, Hyde."

Steven's head dropped back on his shoulders. He wrenched open the door, hurrying out into the hall, muttering a terse "fine" under his breath. He could feel Jackie's gaze on his back as she and Fez followed a couple paces behind him. The heels of her boots echoed off the linoleum tiling the hall and each thud was like a hammer on Steven's brain. His jaws ached from clenching his teeth together.

A roach scurried across the floor, darting into the fire closet, and Jackie screeched, jumping up and into Steven's back, her fingers griping his jacket. Her hot breath washed over his neck and Steven shivered involuntarily, catching her attention. She pushed away from him, back to Fez, but the contact was enough.

"Come on," Steven grumbled, hurrying down the stairs to the first floor. His hand rose to his neck, rubbing away the goose flesh that had risen. Jackie and Fez followed him wordlessly out into the night, their arms linked together. Steven glared at the sight, but kept quiet, stalking to the El Camino parked at the end of the block. He quickly unlocked the passenger side door, hurrying around the hood to the drivers side as Fez opened the door for Jackie, stepping aside to let her slide into the cab.

The threesome piled into the car, Jackie in the middle, and Fez humming Christmas carols under his breath. Jackie pivoted her legs away from Steven, her knees pressed against Fez's leg, but her shoulder pressed against Steven's. Hyde reached for the gearshift, pressing down the clutch as he shook it into neutral and cranked the ignition. His arm brushed against Jackie's thick coat, and he placed the car in first, clammy palm clenching the head of the gearshift. She shifted her weight, pressing herself back into the seat, away from him.

Steven turned the radio loud, angling the tires to pull out onto the road. He drove slowly, if not in-cautiously, the El Camino only briefly fishtailing as he turned onto Franklin, towards the Piggly Wiggly. Jackie and Fez talked together, over the music, about things Steven didn't listen to, nor care to.

He wished she had stayed at the apartment. He wished she hadn't come at all. She was up to something, he just knew it. Some way to fuck with his head and make him insane with jealousy and want.

But she wasn't going to win, not tonight. Tonight was about him, not about Jackie. Tonight, for the first time in years, he wasn't going to think about what Jackie thought of him. Her opinion of him was obviously not as great as he had hoped it could be, and he was sick of being the poor loser in her eyes. Now, she could think whatever the fuck she wanted, he was done.

The parking lot was iced over, and Steven parked the El Camino as close to the entrance as he could, the tires sliding over the snow and ice. He left the car before Fez and Jackie had even unbuckled their seat belts, calling over his shoulder for them to lock the door behind them as he hurried towards the entrance, the automatic doors _whooshing_ open.

Steven freed a shopping cart, angling it down the brightly lit store towards the chip aisle. He paused in the middle of the aisle, blindly reaching forward and grabbing a few bags of potato chips, dropping them unceremoniously into the cart.

"Steven!" Jackie's voice startled him, and she appeared at his side, slapping at his wrist when he reached for more chips. "You can't buy _generic_ chips! People already know you're poor, you don't need to advertise the fact!"

"Jackie, it doesn't matter!" Steven responded. He gripped the carts handle, knuckles white, pushing it farther down the aisle. "People are going to be drinking, not studying what brand of chip I buy. You don't go to a party to eat."

"Steven, you're supposed to _wow_ your guests," Jackie grasped his arm, drawing him to a stop. She reached into the basket, taking out the bags of chips and shoving them into Fez's arms. "Generic food is not impressive. Didn't your mother teach you _anything_?"

" _Jackie everyone will be drunk._ " Steven muttered angrily under his breath as Jackie commandeered the cart, twirling on her heel back up the chip aisle. She yanked a couple bags of Doritos from the shelf, moving quickly up the aisle, grabbing a bag of Lays as she passed.

Fez shoved his armful of bags onto the nearest shelf, adjusting his Santa hat. Jackie paused at the end of the aisle, turning to look over her shoulder at Steven and Fez stationary at the other end. "Come on! We've got some shopping to do."

Steven turned on his heel and stalked off the opposite way, towards the refrigerator section. He picked up a couple jars of dip, exhaling forcefully when Jackie caught up, tsking under her breath at his choices. When he dropped them into the basket, she swooped over and took them back out, shoving them at Fez. "Don't touch anything, Steven. It's obvious my good taste will have to save this party."

Jackie's eyes swept over the selection, and she waved Steven aside. "Just cross your arms and stand over there, like a good boy."

"Don't boss me around, Jackie," Steven muttered as his arms crossed over his chest tightly.

Jackie turned to him, a smirk on her lips. She patted his arm condescendingly. "Such a good boy."

Fez snickered as Jackie flounced off down the aisle. Steven glared at him, a curse just about to leave his lips when a young girl materialized at their side, tugging at the hem of Fez's Santa jacket. Her pigtails were curled into tight spirals and her patent leather shoes gleamed in the light. "Excuse me. Are you Santa?"

"Uhm," Fez laughed nervously, looking down at the small girl. "Yes…."

"Why are you so dark?" The girl questioned, head cocked to the side. "Santa isn't that dark. And he has white hair. And a beard. Where's your beard, Mister?"

"Oh, uhm," Fez began, looking up to Steven for help. Steven bit back a laugh, shaking his head at his friend. Fez glared at Steven, his fingers twisting together at his waist. "I spent a lot of time in the Caribbean. Tanning."

"But Santa is supposed to be really old." The girl said, her eyes squinting in thought. "You're not very old."

"Right, right, he is," Fez's voice shook uncomfortably, and he edged away from the child, pulling at his coat.

"Fez! Hyde!" Jackie yelled, drawing the attention of the three at the end of the aisle. "Come on!"

"Sorry little girl, gotta dash! Lots of presents to deliver to all the good boys and girls!" Fez said taking off up the aisle towards Jackie.

"Mister, was he really Santa?" The little girl asked Steven before he could make his escape. Jackie began to tap her foot impatiently.

"Steven. We're on a schedule here." Jackie called. Steven glanced at her at the end of the aisle and then back to the girl before him.

"I couldn't say, Santa isn't exactly real," Steven mumbled without thinking. The little girl's eyes widened, glistening with tears. "Shit." Steven muttered and the little girl gasped. "No, no, that's not what I meant. Don't cry. Crap. Bye."

"Smooth, Hyde, real smooth," Jackie chastised as Steven neared. The little girl began to cry in earnest, her mother hurrying to her side. "You're good at ruining girls' hopes and dreams aren't you?"

"Shut up, Jackie," Steven argued. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt her."

Jackie gritted her teeth. "Big surprise. I thought you did everything with the intention of hurting people."

They stared at one another for a moment, eyes narrowed. Fez sighed dramatically, pushing at Steven's shoulder, angling him to the checkout counter. "Can we maybe go, now, before that mother tears your head off, Hyde?"

"You two get in line," Jackie said, abandoning the cart for Steven and Fez to take over. "We need glasses and bowls."

"No, I'll get it," Steven said, pushing past her. "I'll meet you guys in line."

"Look, a gentleman," Jackie deadpanned. "Come on, Fezzy."

Steven returned a few minutes later with a package of red solo cups and a couple of party bowls. Jackie made a comment about how they weren't festive enough for a Christmas party, but Steven prevented her from taking them back to exchange with something different. He motioned to the growing line behind them. "They're fine, Jackie, quit being so ridiculous. No one's going to be looking at the dam bowls."

"$10.78." The cashier announced as he rang up the last item. Jackie handed him some money, and the three left the store, slipping and sliding across the parking lot back to the Camino.

A row of cars had taken over the block when they made it back to Steven's complex, and he cursed as he parked his car the next bock over. "If someone breaks into my car, I'm gonna be pissed."

"You're always pissed. You couldn't have just dropped me and Fez off? Now we have to walk through the wet. My shoes will be ruined!" Jackie whined, clicking the toes of her boots together.

"I'll carry you, Jackie," Fez said.

Jackie considered him for a moment, before accepting his offer. She slung her purse over her head, before resting her hands on Fez's shoulders.

Steven slammed his door closed, reaching into the bed of the Camino to grasp the paper bag of food and supplies. Fez bent at the knees, arms extended to catch Jackie as she hopped onto his back, arms tight about his neck.

She giggled as Fez slid slightly on his feet, righting himself just before they toppled into the snow. Fez gripped her thighs, bouncing her higher onto his back. "Ready, my lady?"

"Onward!" Jackie called, laughing as Fez galloped up the sidewalk. She kicked at his thighs, urging him on faster. They slid at the corner, Fez coming down hard on one knee before he sprang up again. His face was contorted with pain, but he didn't let loose of Jackie. He leaned forward, balancing Jackie on his back so her ass was in perfect line of sight of Steven, her knees spread over Fez's hips. He forced his gaze away.

"You alright, man?" Steven asked as he came up on them, the paper bag resting at the crook of his arm.

"Nothing a beer or two can't fix!" Fez said gallantly, readjusting his hold on Jackie. Her skirt rose slightly on her legs, exposing her knees and lower thighs. Fez's fingers spread over the backs of her knees and Steven found himself staring at the sight, rooted to the spot as Fez carted Jackie towards the apartments entrance.

They paused at the bottom step and Steven cleared his throat loudly, stalking around them to open the door. God, this was going to be a long night, he thought, wrenching open the door.

-x-

Claire Miller sat perched on his lap, laughing with mirth and beer, and Steven wrapped his arm about her waist, pulling her closer. Claire took a long sip from her beer, wiping at her mouth as she swallowed, her free arm tight about his neck. Her breath was warm on his neck, her lips teasingly close to his skin. "Do it again, Hyde."

Steven angled his quarter, bouncing it perfectly off the table and into the shot glass before them. Kelso and Fez began to laugh as Eric reached forward, taking his shot without having to be told. He swayed in his seat, a smile on his lips as Donna stood watch behind him, her hand clutching at a cup of beer. Eric belched, slurring as he watched cross-eyed as Fez made his shot, the quarter pinging into the shot glass. Eric reached for the next full shot glass, a silly grin on his face. He sipped at the golden liquor, his body convulsing with a hiccup, before he tipped his head back, swallowing the shot with a grimace.

Claire pressed her full chest against Steven's body, her long, blond hair cascading over her shoulder. She smelt of beer, and something soft, like baby powder. A strange combination, but not altogether unpleasant, Steven thought as he nuzzled her neck. Steven's fingers clutched at her hip, his thumb sliding beneath her top to stroke her searing skin. Her weight was making his leg go numb and Steven adjusted her position, bringing her closer. He was feeling good. Better than good, light with alcohol and weed.

"Man, I'm so thirsty," Kelso said, smacking his lips. He took his shot, making it without hardly any effort and he sighed peevishly, leaning back on his stool. "Ugh! Eric, drink."

"You guys," Eric said, pausing to sling back a shot. He dropped the empty shot glass to the table, his face contorted as he brought his hands to his knees, taking deep, steadying breaths. "I don't feel so hot."

"Yeah, you don't look it either," Donna said, resting her hand on Eric's shoulder.

"Hey, there, pretty lady," Eric said, looking up. He reached forward and drunkenly placed his hand on Donna's breast, his fingers automatically tensing over the soft flesh. He slid his hand across her chest, over to her ribs, laughing as he did so. "Sorry, babe. Eyes aren't working at top speed here. So soft, like… Like two perfectly filled water balloons."

Donna narrowed her eyes, setting her beer down on the table. Kelso picked it up, polishing off the last few gulps. Donna put her arms under Eric's armpits, moving to pull him out of his seat. "Come on, Casanova."

"Where are you taking me?" Eric asked, leering at his girlfriend. "To ravish me? My girlfriend might have a problem with that." Eric stood unsteadily to his feet, leaning close to Donna. He whispered hotly to her, his eyes unfocused. His pointer finger pressed to Donna's mouth and he angled his hips to hers. "I won't tell if you don't tell, foxy lady."

Donna eased her arm around Eric's waist, steering him off towards the bathroom. They weaved around couples, Donna steadying her boyfriend as he made to nose dive into the couch. Steven watched, laughing, as Eric groped Donna again, much to the delight of the couple of football players by the stereo. Claire swayed on his lap, leaning forward to the quarter's table, taking the proffered shot from Kelso. Steven's stomach sank, the smile faltering, as he made eye contact with Jackie, watching him from her perch at the kitchen counter. She had her forearm resting on Jeff Something-Or-Others shoulder and her eyes were narrowed, watching Steven and Claire across the room. Jeff leaned in close, sliding around to stand before her, between her knees, but Jackie didn't look to Jeff, her eyes glued instead to Steven's.

Claire's head obstructed his view of Jackie as she leaned her head to his shoulder, placing a drunken, wet kiss to his throat. Heat spread over Steven's skin and he turned his attention back to the table, to the game that now was being played between Fez and Kelso, the two alternating shots of quarters and liquor. He pretended to not feel Jackie's piercing gaze on him.

A soft moan left Claire's mouth and she began to rub her hand across the nape of Steven's neck. The response was visceral. The liquor in his bloodstream, the lack of release… Steven's member began to swell and his eyes drifted closed. Claire pressed a kiss to Steven's cheek, working her way closer to his mouth. Her lips were soft on his, but she pulled away before he had time to respond.

"Lets go somewhere," Claire whispered, placing her hand on Steven's cheek and licking her lips. She released him, polishing off her beer, and setting the empty cup on the table. She brought her other arm to cup around his neck, her hands clasping together in his hair. She pushed out her chest, a smile on her lips and eyes heavy with want. "Your room?"

Steven's arm tightened on her waist. He leaned forward, pressing his mouth eagerly to hers, nearly moaning at the contact. Claire pulled back with a smirk, reaching for his hand. She led them across the living room, to his bedroom, swaying her ample hips to the beat of the song pulsing in the living room. Kelso and Fez catcalled their departure, but Steven kept his eyes trained on Claire's ass, stuffed into a pair of Jordache jeans, ignoring the piercing glare that followed him from the kitchen.

Claire closed the door to Steven's room behind them, the music muffling slightly. She leaned back against the grain, her face lit up from the ambient light of the street. In the privacy of his room, she seemed to shift and change, her slur cleaning up slightly. Her eyes brightened and she sighed, shaking her long, blond hair behind her shoulders.

"You have a rubber?" Claire asked, pushing off the door. She met Steven by his bed, running her hands up his stomach, catching the buttons of his shirt. Deftly, she began to undo them, as he pulled the hem from his jeans.

"Yeah," Steven mumbled, pushing his shirt from his shoulders. Claire reached for the hem of her own shirt, pulling it off her body in one fluid motion. Steven's eyes fixed on her heaving chest, his cock straining against his jeans. His hand reached to the bulge, stroking against denim. "Christ, it's been too long."

Claire stepped close, offering her mouth and Steven took it greedily, pushing his tongue between her lips. He pushed all thought away, focusing on the primal need that coursed over him; of the feel of her fingers on his skin, of her mouth on his. He dominated their kiss, pressing her soft body to him roughly.

They were naked quickly, clothes piled onto the floor, and Claire was spread across his comforter, waiting, as Steven sheathed himself in a condom, ignoring the aching feeling that he was making a colossal mistake. Claire gripped a fistful of his hair, her hips rising to meet his. "God, I want you."

Steven shook her hand off, settling between her legs. "Stop talking."

"I want you to fuck me so hard," Claire moaned, reaching down between them grasp his member, stroking him in her fingers.

A braying laugh from the other side of the door momentarily distracted Steven and he paused, jerking his head up to stare at the closed door. Claire's fingers tightened around him and he hissed, both from the pleasure and the pain of it.

"Hyde?" Claire whispered. Then more softly, "Steven?"

"Don't call me that." Steven hissed, turning back to the girl sprawled under him.

"Ok, sorry," Claire said, pressing her thighs around his hips.

Steven looked down at her, his brain cleared of alcohol for the briefest of moments. Claire reached for his hand, drawing his fingers over her lips, sucking the end of each digit into her warm mouth, her tongue caressing the flesh. His eyes grew heavy, closing in on Claire's ministrations of his flesh. She brought his hand to her bare chest, watching him watch her as she traced a finger around a pert nipple, leaving a ring of her saliva around the dark areola.

"Now, Hyde," Claire moaned. "Now."

"This isn't going to be some gentle thing," Steven grunted, pushing up her body so he was positioned at her opening. "We're gonna fuck, and then that's it. Yeah?"

Claire nodded her head, "Yeah," her lower lip caught between her teeth. She gasped when Steven entered her, her breath catching as he drove in and out of her quickly. Their skin slapped together roughly, a sharp stinging sound that filled the room in time with the squeaking of his mattress. Her breasts bounced in hypnotizing circles and Steven watched them, imagining he was inside of someone else. His head dropped, chin to his chest, and he came down to his elbows, panting hotly into the crook of Claire's shoulder.

Steven kept his eyes squeezed shut tight, moving rhythmically over Claire. She didn't put up much effort, her hands wrapped around her undersides of her knees as Steven put it to her, moaning in what she obviously thought appealing.

He came sooner than he had anticipated, spilling into the condom with a shudder. Claire rubbed at his shoulders, placing a kiss to his slick skin. She pushed at him, easing his deflating member from her body with a sigh. He didn't bother to ask if she had come; he knew she hadn't, and didn't care. Steven sat back on his heels at the end of the bed, his breath leaving him in short bursts. He felt empty and unsatisfied. He had thought physical contact would replace the emptiness he had been experiencing since losing Jackie, but all he felt was disgust and a sharp clench in his stomach that he had royally fucked up, maybe even worse than Kelso.

Claire dressed quickly, stopping before his dresser mirror to fix her makeup, running her fingers under her eyes and through her hair. She came back to Steven, still naked, on the bed, her hand sliding once through his locks, before falling back to her side.

"I know you didn't really want me," Claire said softly. Steven's eyes swung around to stare into her own. She smiled comfortingly at him.

"Then what was this all about?" Steven said angrily. He stood from the bed, yanking his jeans from the floor and over his legs. He pulled the condom off, rolling it up into some tissues.

Claire watched him throw the soiled tissue into the small trashcan by the door. She sighed, bending to scoop his shirt up off the floor, shaking it out. "I just didn't like seeing you so sad."

"What?" Steven said, his eyes narrowing. "I'm not sad. Why the fuck would you say that?"

Shoving his arms into his shirt, he began to haphazardly do up the buttons. Claire's eyebrows rose and fell. She walked to the door, dropping her hand to the knob. "She doesn't have to know what we did. I won't say anything."

"Who?" Steven asked tersely, pulling his boots over his feet.

"Jackie." Claire supplied.

"What?" Steven asked with surprise, his hands slipping from his boot. "Jackie? What does she have to do with anything?"

"You're not quite as sneaky as you think you are," Claire answered with a small smile. "The both of you have been making eyes at one another all night."

Steven chewed on his tongue. He thought about denying it. He thought about telling Claire she was fucking drunk and didn't know what she was talking about. But something held him back. His skin felt dirty, and he hated himself, more than he had when he had been going through his dry spell. The gravity of his actions was heavy on his shoulders.

Slowly, Steven nodded his head. "Alright. Then what will you tell her?"

"We were smoking a joint." Claire said easily. She opened the door, slipping out into the crowded living room. The music blared in his ears, and the light momentarily blinded him before the door clicked closed again, leaving Steven alone.

It was almost as though he were outside his body, watching someone else as they righted the sheets, cracking open the window to wash out the scent of their sex. He stood sentinel in the center of his room, swallowing down the thick bile that rose in his throat, his fingers curled in his palms. He could still smell that baby powder smell on his body and he sprayed cologne over his clothes in an attempt to cover it up.

The draw of more alcohol, of washing out the taste of Claire on his tongue, and of stamping out the fresh memory of the feel of her warmth around him, is what drew him out of his room. He could see her pendulum breasts whenever he closed his eyes and he forced him wide, fixing his face into a neutral expression. He was Zen again, weaving through the guests towards the keg.

He was the Zen fucking Master.

Beer after beer after beer went down easy. He lost count of how many beers he pounded back. He played another game of quarters, chasing shots of Jameson with swallows of beer. Steven dragged Fez close, cheering after he lost the game to Timmy Richards, laughing like a loon. He vaguely remembered slapping Timmy's girl's ass, breaking into fresh peals of laughter when she squealed, jerking away from him.

"Hey, man," Timmy said, coming to stand between his girlfriend and Steven. "I think you need to slow down."

"Fuck off," Steven slurred, his arm falling from Fez. Timmy swept back to his girlfriend, placing a hand at the small of her back.

"Come on, Sara, let's get something to eat," Timmy said, guiding her to the front door.

"Ah! Hey!" Steven yelled, catching the attention of those around him. His voice cracked and he saw Claire grimace at him, from her spot next to the stereo. "Hey! You can't leave yet! The party's just getting started!"

"Circle time!" A deep voice boomed in his ear and Steven stumbled, catching himself on the keg. He filled his cup, sloshing beer over his hands as Kelso grabbed his upper arm.

Kelso dragged him away for a circle in the bathroom, telling a few people along the way. Steven couldn't remember exactly whom he smoked with, but they hot-boxed the small room in a matter of minutes. His burped up a mouth full of bile, spitting it into the sink amid cries of disgust from the women in the bathroom. Steven washed out the bitter taste with a gulp of beer, taking the joint when Kelso passed it to him. He lost his balance, falling back into the tub, and knocking his head against the soap holder. Peals of laughter racked his body and he reached up to cup the back of his head, rubbing at the sizeable lump forming on his skull.

"Hyde, you ok, man?" Kelso's voice drifted towards him. Kelso pulled him out of the tub, his face swimming before Steven's.

Steven inhaled deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs. He exhaled, his head feeling heavy and he swayed on his perch at the edge of the tub. "Just peachy."

The party was dwindling, coming down, people leaving in pairs, but Steven was just getting started. He emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of hazy smoke, stumbling to the kitchen to the row of liquor bottles and poured a couple fingers worth of whiskey straight into his cup of beer, swirling the mixture before he pounded it back.

His vision was skewed, doubled, and Steven grabbed fistfuls of chips from the bowls on the counter. He chewed loudly, smacking his jaws together, finding that once he started to eat, he couldn't stop. Nausea rolled in his belly and he was just about to consider falling asleep on the kitchen floor when the sweetest scent of gardenia and bergamot assaulted his senses.

"Steven?" Jackie whispered, appearing in front of him. Her hands reached towards him, stopping before she touched him. Steven raised his left hand, covering his eye so he could focus on Jackie with his right. His right eye widened comically and Steven leered at her, listing severely. She looked concerned, her eyebrows drawn together on her smooth forehead.

"Hello, Beulah," Steven sing-songed, dropping his hand from his face and reaching for the handle of Jameson. He unscrewed the cap, throwing it across the room. He poured the bottle over his cup, dumping half of the whiskey across the counter. "Want a drink, Beulah?"

Jackie pulled the bottle easily from Steven's grasp. "No, Steven, I think you've had enough."

"Hmm," Steven said, turning to Jackie. He slung his arm about her shoulders, pulling her close so that she was all he could see and smell. "I know what I need."

Jackie pressed her hand to his chest, garnering a bit of space between them. "I know what you need too. Water."

"Psh!" Steven said, exhaling a lungful of air into Jackie's face. She grimaced, waving her hand before her face. Steven's hand slid across her shoulder to grasp at her hair, grabbing a fistful of her locks tight in his clutch. Jackie gasped in pain, reaching back to loosen his fingers. Steven leaned close to her, pressing a kiss to her ear though he aimed for mouth. He kissed her ear, her cheek, her hair, pulling her close as she pushed him away. "Jackie."

"What?" Jackie responded crossly, guiding Steven around the counter towards his room. "Stop it, people will see."

"I've missed you." Steven said loudly. Jackie's eyes pinged around at the partiers still lingering.

"You've seen me every day for the past four years," Jackie said quickly. She opened the bedroom door, releasing Steven as she began to look over his dresser. "You don't miss me, Steven."

"Yes I do, I dream about you every night," he admitted drunkenly. Steven leaned against the doorjamb, watching as she moved about his room. She picked up his jacket, folding it over her arm, and moved over to the bedside table, fishing around under the piled up magazines and Zig-Zag papers. Her back was to him, and Steven watched her move, the animal want he had briefly felt earlier returning. His member swelled once more in his jeans, more insistent this time and he re-imagined his tryst with Claire, nearly moaning out loud as Jackie filled her place. It wasn't Claire's busty cleavage that hypnotized him, but Jackie's pert breasts, her moans that filled the air.

"Aha!" Jackie cried, turning with a flourish, startling Steven, the El Camino's keys in her hand. She returned to Steven's side, producing the jacket. She fended off his kiss, shaking open the jacket. "Let's go get you something to eat. You're acting like you haven't eaten in days."

"Mm." Steven said, his mouth beginning to water. He allowed Jackie to dress him in his coat and lead him back out of his bedroom. He readjusted himself in his jeans. "A Fatso burger?"

"Whatever you want," Jackie said soothingly, leading him out into the hall.

Steven fell back against the wall, drawing Jackie close to him. His hands spread over her torso, and he shuddered at the heat of her body. Leaning in close to kiss her, he sniffed deeply at her neck, pressing his lips to the column of her throat. "Whatever I want, huh?"

Jackie sneered, pulling away. "To eat, doofus."

Steven reached for her again, but Jackie grasped his hand, pulling him behind her as she descended the stairs. He hummed under his breath, relishing in the feel of Jackie's hand around his. He watched her dark hair shine under the florescent lights and chuckled whenever he tripped, ignoring the annoyed sighs from Jackie when he jerked her back. He swung their clasped hands, hiccupping loudly. She was perfect. She smelled just like the perfume he had sprayed in her bathroom all those years ago, how she had smelled every time they fooled around.

 _The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky…_ "You know that song?"

"What song?" Jackie asked as they left the building, drawing her jacket close about herself. She released Steven and started off down the sidewalk, gingerly stepping into the less icy areas. "Is it Led?"

"Jackie. It's _Led. Zeppelin._ " Steven huffed. He slid on the ice but followed resolutely behind Jackie as she led them to the Camino. "And no, not Zeppelin. That other song."

"What other song, Hyde?" Jackie asked, sliding the key into the drivers side lock. She opened the door, motioning for Steven to get into the cab.

He squinted down at her, pausing before getting into the car. The freezing wind blew his hair back from his face and his eyes watered, tears gathering at the corners. His pointer finger rose between them and he lurched forward, just catching himself on the drivers door. "Why are you-" _hiccup_ "-calling me Hyde?"

Jackie shrugged, pushing at his shoulders. "That's your name, isn't it?"

Steven allowed Jackie to push him into the car, sliding across the seat to the opposite side. She followed, snapping the door closed against the harsh Wisconsin winter.

"Wait, you can't drive the El Camino!" Steven hollered, his voice filling the cab. He swallowed down a bite of bile that rose with his hiccup. "You're a terrible driver!"

"I am not," Jackie rolled her eyes at him, sliding the key into the ignition. She cranked the key, scowling when the engine failed to turn over. "What's wrong? Why won't it start?"

"It's a stick," Steven said, hiccupping loudly.

"Oh," Jackie said, peering down at the pedals. She extended her left foot to the clutch, pressing it to the floorboard and cranked the key again. The engine roared to life and Jackie did a little jig. "Easy peasy!"

"You've gotta be easy with her, Jackie," Steven said, hiccupping again.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't hurt your precious car," Jackie grumbled, turning the wheel to pull out onto the road.

They rode along in silence for several moments. Jackie was uncharacteristically mindful, driving slowly through town towards the Fatso Burger. She never brought the car higher than second gear and braked well before she reached stop signs and traffic signals.

Steven stared at Jackie as she drove. He leaned against the passenger door, one eye squinted closed to focus on her profile. He hummed throatily, his hands drumming on his thighs. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "You know that song?"

Jackie rolled her eyes hard, flicking on the turn signal as they neared Fatso Burger. She downshifted, shaking the gearshift into neutral and then counting up the tree back to first. "What song?"

"You know," Steven said, smiling. He shifted his weight against the door. "That one by The Walker Brothers."

"They have quite a few songs." Jackie said, turning into the parking lot, easing off the clutch before she pressed hard enough on the gas. The El Camino roared with life, fishtailing wildly, and she snuck a glance at Steven, easing off both pedals. She got in line for the drive thru, bringing the gearshift to neutral. "Which one, Steven?"

"That one… That one about how when she's gone, the sun ain't gonna shine anymore." Steven continued. His eyes drifted closed and he sang in a warbling tone. "The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky! When you're without loooovveeee."

"What about it?" Jackie asked loudly over his trilling tone, moving forward with the line.

"It reminds me of you," Steven admitted unabashed.

Jackie was quiet, her body tense. She moved up to the window to order, rolling down the window halfway. Snow had begun to fall again in earnest as Jackie rolled up the window, waiting as the cashier moved off into the restaurant to prepare their order. She stared out the car, into the drive thru window, propping her arm onto the windowsill. The engine purred in the silence and Steven sighed, feeling like he could sleep for years.

"You smell nice," Steven said suddenly. He yawned broadly. "Like flowers. Like that perfume in your bathroom."

Jackie spared him a quick glance. "Cause that wasn't completely creepy, Steven."

"I like it when you call me Steven." He said.

Jackie sighed, her lips pursed.

The cashier reappeared at the window and Jackie rolled down her window, reaching out to grasp the two white bags and drinks. She set the food between them, holding a drink out to Steven to take. He took it, settling it between his thighs.

Jackie parked the El Camino in a space close to the restaurant, setting the car in neutral and setting the parking break. She separated the food, holding out a cheeseburger to Steven and dumping the fries together into an empty bag.

"Jackie, I miss you," Steven said, holding his burger close to his mouth. He took a large bite, groaning at the taste of the greasy burger. "Goddamn, this burger is good."

Jackie reached between them, grabbing a couple of fries. "Ketchup?" She asked, opening a packet with her teeth and squirting it onto her burger.

"No," Steven said, taking another bite of his burger. He swallowed and reached for the fries, watching Jackie scarf down her own burger. "You don't miss me?"

"Steven, stop it," Jackie muttered under her breath, around her mouthful of burger. "You're drunk."

"Come on, Jackie," Steven said, his hand coming to rest in his lap. He hiccupped, and reached for his soda. "I think we both said some things we didn't mean."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jackie responded, taking the last bite of her burger and wadding up the paper wrapper. "I didn't say anything I didn't mean to say." She motioned to the forgotten burger in his lap. "Eat."

Steven obeyed, eating the rest of his burger in silence. He thought back to that night, working his drunken brain through the chain of events. Maybe he should have comforted her. Or lied to her. Said he didn't know anything about Kelso cheating on her. In hindsight, the whole thing had gone the complete opposite of how he had imagined it would go. He had pictured Jackie falling into his embrace, so happy that he had never been unfaithful to her, and that finally, the whole truth was out in the open. He had dreamed of her appearing in his room, apologizing for her behavior and then they would hump to his hearts delight, but women were more complicated than that, he admitted to himself as he ate a handful of fries.

"I said some things I wish I hadn't said," Steven blurted. He rubbed his lips together, the booze working through his blood stream. "For instance, I should've told you about Kelso when I first learned about it. But you don't rat on your friends, Jackie, y'know?"

"I don't care, Steven," Jackie said softly, putting the car in reverse and heading out towards Green Bay Road.

"I do, Jackie," Steven argued, continuing to eat. He sipped at his soda, peering out around them as they entered a neighborhood decidedly nicer than his own. "Wait, where are we?"

"My neighborhood," Jackie answered, parking the El Camino across the street from her house. She took the empty burger wrapper from Steven's grasp, stuffing it into the bag of fries.

"Why are we here?" Steven asked slowly, his tongue thick in his mouth. Jackie gathered together the trash and tossed it into the bed of the Camino. She held the driver's door open, waiting as Steven slid across the bench seat and joined her out in the cold.

"I'm afraid you'll die from alcohol poisoning." Jackie answered. She closed and locked the door behind Steven and led him across the street to the gate. "And I'm not staying in that disgusting pit of an apartment."

She led him across the yard, around the side of the house to the back door. Steven followed a few paces behind her, his feet heavy as lead. The patio furniture was covered in thick vinyl wrappings, but Steven staggered over to them anyway, pulling out a chair. He sank into the chair, the vinyl cracking, and rested his head on his clasped arms.

"Steven!" Jackie hissed. She slapped him across the back of the head, chastising him when he cried out. "Shh! Daddy will kill you if he hears you."

"I'm so sleepy, Jackie," Steven mumbled, standing shakily to his feet. "And my head hurts. I hit it on something. I don't remember." He followed her to the back door, leaning against the red brick as Jackie produced her keys, opening the door and shoving him inside. Steven walked through into the kitchen, pausing next to the island. He smirked, rubbing his hand over the smooth tile, looking to Jackie as she followed him. "Remember what we did here?"

"Ugh!" Jackie cried softly. She slapped his bicep hard. "Don't be a pervert, Steven."

"You liked it," Steven whispered, reaching out and squeezing her ass as she stopped at the swinging door leading to the foyer.

Jackie gasped, jumping out of his reach and pressed her palm across his mouth, her eyes sharp. "Steven, shut your mouth!"

"Allmight," Steven mumbled against her smooth flesh. His tongue slid out between his lips and licked her palm.

"I'm serious, Daddy will not be happy if he finds me sneaking you upstairs," Jackie whispered harshly, yanking her hand away. She wiped her hand across the bottom of her coat, and then threaded her fingers with his. "Come on."

She led him up the stairs, slapping him whenever he stepped too loudly, or began to hum. They passed slowly by her parent's closed bedroom door, Jackie pausing to press her ear to the door to listen, seemingly satisfied at what she didn't hear. Jackie pulled Steven along behind her, shoving him brusquely into her pink bedroom, and closing the door quickly behind her.

Steven swayed on his feet, his hand pressed to his belly as the room span in circles about him. "Jackie."

"Shut up!" Jackie responded, listening at her door.

"Jackie." Steven tried again. He stumbled towards the en suite door. "Jackie."

"Steven! Shut your pie hole!" Jackie admonished.

Steven tripped into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before he began to be sick. Great heaves racked his frame and he clung to the pink porcelain. Sweat broke out on his forehead and tears streamed down his cheeks. Chunks of cheeseburger swam through the pink bile floating in the toilet water and Steven heaved as the smell assaulted his nostrils.

"Ugh!" Jackie said again, stopping at the door to the bathroom.

Jackie opened the small linen closet, pulling out a washcloth. She wet the cotton terrycloth, wringing out the excess as Steven tossed his cookies into the toilet. Dry heaves plagued him after he had expelled all the contents of his stomach and his abs ached with each seize. Jackie reached over his head, flushing the toilet while she simultaneously pulled him back to rest against the side of the bathtub.

"Geez, Steven," Jackie said softly, swiping the cloth over his mouth. "You're a mess."

Steven extended his legs straight before him, leaning his head back against the cool porcelain tub. Jackie stood, washing out the rag. She looked at him through the reflection of the mirror, her eyes filled with worry and disgust. Wringing out the excess water, Jackie knelt before Steven again, placing her hand gingerly on his cheek. She pressed the washcloth to his forehead and Steven sighed at the feeling of the cool fabric against his skin.

"Why did you drink so much?" Jackie asked after a while. "It was worse than that time Scott from the AV Club pretended to get high off oregano and jumped off his roof into the empty pool." She had moved to sit before him, touching the washcloth over his forehead in sweeping, soothing strokes. Steven's eyes opened blearily. Jackie met his gaze, her head cocking to the side. "Oh, Steven."

Licking his lips, Steven adjusted his position on the fluffy pink bathmat. "I'm thirsty."

"Well," Jackie said, leaning back. She stood and filled a cup by the sink with tap water. Kneeling at Steven's side she held the cup back when he reached for it. "Sip it, Steven. Unless you want to throw up all over again."

"Yeah, yeah," Steven reached for the cup, sipping at the tepid water. His stomach roiled and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the tub. He took another cautious sip of water. "What time is it?"

Jackie was quiet for a moment. "Uhm, midnight? Just after midnight."

Steven set the water beside him on the cool tile. He breathed deeply and slowly, willing his stomach to stop its pole-vaulting competition with his intestines. Jackie's touch returned to his face, sans washcloth, and he let his head fall into her touch. "Thanks, Jackie."

"Mm hmm," Jackie hummed back, her hand disappearing from his face. She moved to sit beside him, leaning back against the tub. Her hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him down. "Come here, Steven."

Sliding his legs out to the side, Steven lay on his side, letting his head pool in Jackie's lap. Her fingers returned, sliding through his curls and Steven sighed in content, wrapping his fingers around Jackie's thigh.

"Steven?" Jackie whispered.

"Hmm?"

Jackie's twirled a lock of his hair about her finger. Her voice was soft. "Did you sleep with that girl?"

Steven's eyes opened and he felt his fingers tighten around Jackie's thigh. Jackie's fingers stilled in his hair, with the weight of her hand mooring him to the floor as she waited for his response. He cleared his throat, staring blankly ahead at the bathroom cabinets. There was a long scratch in one of the panels, and his eyes worked over it, tracing it from top to bottom. Jackie's fingers twitched. Steven sighed. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Jackie said. She moved out from under him, and out into her bedroom. Steven made to stand, but fell back to the floor with a groan as he head spun and his stomach lurched up his throat. Jackie returned a moment later, pillow and blanket in hand. She avoided his gaze. "You should sleep in here. In case you're sick again."

"Jackie, stay with me. Please?" Steven muttered pathetically. Jackie snapped open the blanket, before letting it fall over his body. She fluffed the pillow, raising his head to slide it under his ear.

"No, Steven," Jackie said. She reached into the shower, pulling out her face wash. Steven watched her wash and moisturize, brush and floss her teeth and run her horsehair brush through her dark locks. She flipped on a small nightlight at the counter, before turning out the overhead light. "Goodnight."

Steven didn't answer her. He listened to her soft footsteps about her room as she changed into her pajamas and slid into bed, the radio playing softly.

The room felt small, oppressive, and he curled under the fleece unicorn blanket wishing he hadn't made such a fool of himself. Tonight was supposed to be a good night. And instead, he had angry fucked Claire, gotten wasted, and spilled to Jackie that he missed her.

Cold seeped up through the bathmat and Steven shivered. He stared across the room at the cabinet, looking where he knew the scratch on the panel was, but couldn't see in the dark. Being so close to Jackie after a month away from her was soothing, even with her in the next room.

The little nightlight over the counter didn't do much to help his sight, and he worked his way up, slowly, to a sitting position, the fleece blanket tight about his shoulders. His body ached, and he longed for a softer bed.

Steven stood shakily to his feet, closing his eyes tightly as a wave of dizziness rolled over him. He shuffled out of the bathroom, pausing by Jackie's dresser. She was turned away from him, her form just discernable under the covers, and half-hidden in the dark. It took Steven a moment to hear her soft sobs over the sound of Elton John's voice issuing from the radio, but once he had, he couldn't push them away.

Steven shuffled over to her bed, sinking onto the soft mattress and slipping under the covers. He gathered her in his arms, spooning her tightly to his chest. Jackie's sobs intensified, and she curled in on herself, neither pushing him away, nor pulling him closer.

"I'm sorry, Jackie," Steven whispered in a mantra. He pressed his nose to the back of her neck, whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" on repeat as Jackie continued to cry. He kissed her hair and held her tighter. She cried steadily through the Elton John rock-block, coming down to hiccup softly once the DJ came back on the air.

"This doesn't change anything, Steven," Jackie whispered, finally bringing her hand to his, threading their fingers together.

Steven sighed, nuzzling against her. "It could."

"I'm still mad at you," Jackie whispered back. "You lied to me."

"I didn't want to lie to you." Steven argued. Her flowery scent was enticing him and he felt his dick harden again. He pulled his hips back from her, hoping she hadn't noticed. "It wasn't some picnic, Jackie."

"Really? Cause you did it so easily," Jackie threw back. She brought their clasped hands up between her breasts, pressing Steven's warm arm to her.

"It wasn't easy. I just didn't want Kelso to think I was trying to steal you from him," Steven whispered. His cock was straining against his jeans and he pressed his forehead to Jackie's shoulder blades. "Which I wanted to do, believe me."

Jackie was silent. She sniffled, turning to rub her nose on her pillow, and Steven rubbed the thumb trapped between her hands against her nightgown.

"Do you believe me?" Steven whispered.

"Why should I?" Jackie whispered back. She rubbed her thighs together and Steven felt his breath hitch in his chest.

"I can't lie to you, Jackie, you should know that by now," Steven admitted, his hips moving slightly closer to her under the sheets. "I mean, I fucking told you earlier how much I miss you. And that… Christ, that I've had dreams about you."

Jackie was silent for a few moments. She brought their clasped hands up under her chin. "What kind of dreams?"

"What?" Steven asked, his head rising to peer at her profile.

Jackie's head turned slightly towards him. "I said, what kind of dreams?"

"Oh, uhm," Steven began, his hips moving yet more closer to her. "Well… They were really good dreams."

"And…?"

"Jesus, are you going to make me say it?" Steven groaned, his head falling back to the pillow.

"Well, do you want me to forgive you, or not?" Jackie threw back.

Steven exhaled roughly. "Fine. They were- they were, well, _artistic_."

" _Artistic_?" Jackie repeated derisively.

"We had lots of hot sex!" Steven whispered harshly back to her. "Happy? I made you cum a million times and scream my name, and God, was it good, and, yes, you liked it. You liked it a lot. Shit, I liked it a lot."

Jackie grew quiet again. She turned back onto her side away from him, her grip on Steven's hand loosening slightly. "Did you sleep with that girl, Steven?"

Steven was the one to fall silent this time. He pulled free from her grasp and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

 _Lie, just fucking lie to her, Hyde,_ Steven thought to himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, chewing on his tongue till the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. His eyes drifted open and he deflated, his member flaccid in his jeans.

"Yes."

Jackie's voice was childlike. "Yes, what?"

Steven brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing at his lids with his pointer finger and thumb. "Yes, I slept with her."

"I see." Jackie turned onto her back, her shoulder pressed against Steven's. "Was it _artistic_?"

"Not in the slightest." Steven said with conviction.

"I see." Jackie repeated. Her voice had grown hard. "Did you like it?"

"Nope." Steven answered immediately.

"Hmm." Jackie hummed.

"Jackie, I didn't cheat on you," Steven pointed out. "Besides, we ended things a month ago."

" _You_ ended things a month ago."

"I only did it because you compared me to Kelso, like I had cheated on you a million times like he did." Steven was growing angry.

Jackie huffed. "Well, you did lie to me for months."

"Goddammit, Jackie," Steven grumbled.

Jackie sat straight up. She turned to look down at Steven, her face shrouded in shadow. "Hey, you could've just told me and none of this would've happened."

"You wouldn't have believed me, would you?" Steven pointed out. "You would have thought I was trying to burn you."

"Well-" Jackie began. "Maybe."

"That's right. While you've been mad at me, you know that you have no right to be. I couldn't have told you, Jackie," Steven said forcefully, staring up at her. "Just like I couldn't call out Kelso."

"Whatever," Jackie Zenned. She turned away from him, her arms crossed over her chest. She fell back against the mattress, bouncing the pair of them. "I'm tired."

"That's cool."

"Whatever."

The air was charged around them. Steven could only focus on the sound of their breathing, the feel of Jackie's warm arm against his. He wished he hadn't slept with Claire. He wished Jackie hadn't been privy to the information. He wished he were buried deep inside of her.

Steven glanced at Jackie out of the corner of his eye. "How long you gonna be mad at me?"

"For as long as I want to." Jackie responded petulantly, turning away from him, onto her side.

Steven heaved a great sigh. He sat up in bed, pulling the unicorn fleece blanket with him. "I'll go back to the bathroom."

He had made it all the way across the room, into the bathroom, and was just settling onto the bathmat when Jackie called out to him. "You can sleep in here."

Scowling, Steven fluffed his pillow. "I'm already in the bathroom, Jackie."

"Well, sleep in there, then!" Jackie responded hotly.

"That's cool." Steven rolled himself like a burrito into the unicorn fleece. Jackie huffed in exasperation from her bedroom.

"Steven."

"Jackie."

"Get in here."

"No."

"Steven!"

"Better quiet down, your daddy will hear."

"You are so infuriating! Just! Come! Here!"

"Will you quit your belly-aching if I do?"

Silence followed Steven's question and he settled back onto the bathmat, his eyes drifting shut.

"Yes." Jackie muttered, just loud enough for Steven to hear.

He sighed histrionically, gathering up his pillow and blanket. Jackie was sitting up on her bed when he came out of the bathroom. She huffed melodramatically, scooting over on the mattress, with her arms crossed tight over her chest.

Steven swung the pillow in a perfect arc through the air, catching Jackie in the face. She gasped with surprised, grappling for her own pillow, ready for the counter attack. Steven dropped the unicorn blanket over the bed, jumping onto the mattress and taking Jackie down with him. They scuffled against one another, Jackie pulling her pillow out from under her with a triumphant 'ha'. She pushed against his shoulders, using counter-weight to flip him onto his back. Jackie brought her pillow down to his face, pressing it over his nose and straddling his hips.

"Think you can just smack me in the face with a pillow, and get away with it?" Jackie panted, pressing the pillow harder over Steven's face. He flayed about, pretending to suffocate. His legs jerked, bouncing her body over his and his hands grasped at her arms, her hips, her ass, before releasing her, as his body grew limp.

The pillow's pressure eased off of his face slightly. "Steven?" Jackie whispered. He held his breath, his eyes half-open, his body as limp as he could make it. Jackie sat back over his pelvis, her weight pushing into his crotch. "Steven, you better be playing."

Jackie moved the pillow slowly away from his face, grasping it tightly in her hands. "Steven? I'm serious."

Steven remained motionless on the bed, letting his tongue loll out of his mouth. Jackie tossed the pillow to the floor, her hands coming down to grip his shoulders. She shook him roughly, "Steven?!"

"Geez, Jackie, calm down!" Steven broke character, reaching out to grasp her hips. "You're going to be the one to wake up your dad if you don't quiet down."

"You jerk!" Jackie hissed. "I thought I had killed you! You've been drunk all day, for all I know, it'd be easy to kill you!"

"Stop being so dramatic," Steven said. He settled underneath her, his hands resting lightly on her hips.

Jackie leaned over him, wrapping her arms about his neck. "You stupid idiot!"

"You're the one who believed you'd actually smothered me." Steven argued, wrapping his arms about her. She felt like home, resting on top of him, fitting perfectly into the curves of his body. Steven fit her head under his chin, holding her tightly to him. "Forgive me now?"

Jackie curled her legs about his, her arms warm against his sides. She breathed in time with him, and Steven could've sworn he felt her laugh softly against his chest. She brought her head up from his chest, her eyes dark, but visible, as they looked down at him. Jackie pulled herself up his body, her hands gripping his shoulders. Her mouth came down within millimeters of his own and she paused, hovering over his lips. Steven felt his heart begin to pump faster in his chest, his hands at the small of her back.

Jackie rolled her hips over his, eliciting a deep sigh from Steven. He brought a hand to her hair, pulling her closer. Jackie pulled back, just before their lips touched, her lower lip tucked tight between her teeth. Her breath was warm over his lips and he groaned with want of her.

Rolling her hips over his once, twice, Jackie slid off of Steven, rocking onto her side. "Not a chance, Steven Hyde."

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 **A/N: Holy Guacamole! 11,000 words. I'm surprised, shocked actually. But I haven't updated in a while, and felt y'all deserved it. It's a hard read. Hyde does things that I do not approve of. And yet, here we are. Don't fret, Jackie has the happy ending she deserves, and Steven has the happy ending he deserves. Please review, and ignore any errors. Y'all are the best and I adore each and every one of you!**

 **The song Bud sings, and later Steven, is Sun Ain't Gonna Shine by The Walker Brothers. And I got the pillow-suffocation scene from my favorite film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Twenty**

 _Heading out this morning into the sun,_

 _Riding on the diamond waves, little darlin' one._

 _-Dreamboat Annie,_ Heart

-x-

Christmas Day, 1977

The Forman's Living Room

Mrs. Forman's laugh filled the air as she swept through her guests, a tray of hot Pigs-In-A-Blanket in one hand and a stack of napkins in the other. She offered the tray, moving quickly through the den and into the living room. Jackie managed to snag  
one of the hot rolls from the tray as Mrs. Forman hurried past, sucking on the tips of her fingers as the hot bread scorched her skin. Kitty came to a stop by the Christmas tree, clearing her throat loudly over the chatter and music.

"Everybody! Everybody!" A nervous laugh followed as the guests paused, turning their attention to her. Mrs. Forman used the tray of hot food to motion to the tree, nearly sending a cascade of hot Vienna Sausages wrapped in crescent rolls into Midge's  
lap. Midge sipped at her cocktail, unbothered. Kitty waved her handful of napkins at Midge in dismissal, her mouth briefly quirked down at the corners. She cleared her throat again, a broad smile returning to her lips. "The Secret Santa exchange will  
be happening in _five minutes_! Make sure you've placed your presents under the tree!"

Jackie sipped at her soda, her eyes sweeping over the party. Mr. Pinciotti dropped a small envelope under the tree, drinking deeply from his margarita as he stood and came to stand behind Midge on the couch. His rotund belly strained against his jeans  
and he pulled uncomfortably at his belt.

Smoothing the edges of her skirt over her knees, preening, Jackie massaged her glossed lips together, and shook her hair over her shoulder, pretending she didn't notice Mr. Bridges watching her from the opposite side of the room. She knew she looked gorgeous  
today. Her mother and father had given her a new gold necklace and earring set for Christmas, her makeup had been perfectly applied, and her hair had been curled into submission, just the right amount of body, and no frizz. She had taken extra care  
with her appearance this morning. It was Christmas, the day of wishes and gift giving. And she knew exactly which wish she was hoping would come true on this day.

All she had to do was be her alluring, charming self.

Now, to garner the attention of a man who wasn't over forty with a sweaty upper lip, and wiry gray hair pouring from his ears, she thought, taking another small sip of soda. She had been content with Michael's wolfish grin, and she had appreciated the  
way Fez had stared unabashed as her form fitting sweater dress and knee-high boots. Even Eric had given her a glance longer than three seconds, his green eyes sweeping down her frame, and while she was slightly grossed out by his attention, she took  
it as a sign that she had succeeded in presenting nothing other than her Super Cute Self.

They had all given her The Look. The, at minimum, three-second glance, in which a man's face went slightly slack before morphing into a look of either complete adoration, want, and need, or, as in Eric's case, fell into a carefully constructed look of  
indifference. Each had followed with a second glance, an over the shoulder peek that verified what they had initially thought; that Jackie Burkhart was looking smoking hot.

Every man… Except Steven.

Steven had been withdrawn; he claimed to be embarrassed about how he acted at his Christmas Rager, and Jackie couldn't say she blamed him. He had acted like a jerk, and an ass, and a drunken fool, and Jackie was still mad at him for not only lying about  
knowing Michael had cheated, but for his dalliance with Claire Miller.

"That slut," Jackie whispered vehemently under her breath. A wave of anger swept over her and she took a deep breath, holding it in her lungs and counting slowly backwards from ten. It was Christmas, the day of gift-giving and kissing under mistletoe,  
not a day to be angry. Besides, it was like Pam Burkhart always said; anger caused wrinkles, and wrinkles made you ugly. So Jackie shook her shoulders, smiling slightly to ease her face back into a pleasant expression. Mr. Bridges inched his way closer  
to her perch on the piano bench and Jackie pressed her shoulders back, smirking to herself.

Donna sank to the piano bench beside her, both of her hands clasped around a sweating can of soda. Her blue eyes were fixed across the room and she brought the can of soda to her mouth, taking a small sip, and resting it back on her knee.

"God, I wish my parents would give it a rest, just for one night," Donna observed, her eyes set on her parents as they moved about the room, stopping at the stairs.

Jackie leaned around the Amazon, finding the Pinciotti's easy. Bob and Midge were arguing, Bob motioning to Midge's dress. He pointed to her spilling cleavage and the slit up to her thigh. "It's just a simple Christmas Party, not a Key Party, Midgey.  
Did you have to dress like you're out to seduce Baby Jesus?"

Midge sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Geez, Bob, I can't seduce Baby Jesus. He's a _baby._ Duh."

Donna groaned, rolling her eyes in embarrassment. Her pale cheeks turned a shade of pink, darkening up her neck. The blush clashed terribly with her red hair and emerald blouse, and Jackie told her so, fingering the sleeve of Donna's polyester top. Donna  
scowled at Jackie, pulling her shirt free. She sipped her soda, and motioned to the tree. "Who did you get for Secret Santa?"

"I can't tell you that, Donna," Jackie said flippantly, sipping from her own soda. Donna's eyebrows rose and fell as her eyes swept back to her parents. Jackie followed her line of sight, quirking her mouth. She smirked as she knocked her shoulder against  
Donna's, drawing the attention of the lumberjack, and said in singsong, "But I think you'll like your gift!"

"So it's me?" Donna said, chuckling. Her voice lowered conspiratorially as the boys entered the living room from the kitchen, their eyes rimmed in red. "I got Hyde. I had no idea what to get him, so I got him a pair of socks and a new belt buckle. He  
needs clothes, right?"

"Of course he needs clothes, Donna," Jackie agreed, briefly meeting his eye as Steven crossed the room. _Be still my beating heart._ "He's poor, and he has no taste."

Donna's eyebrows drew together. "How have things been between you guys? You've been strangely quiet about him." She took another sip of soda and tapped her nails against the side of the can. "I expected, y'know, praises and accolades till I wanted to  
puncture my eardrums with a pencil."

Jackie shrugged her shoulders, watching the boys take a seat on the stairs. She shook her hair back behind her shoulders again, avoiding Mr. Bridges as he passed by closely on his way to the bar. Jackie sipped from her soda, her eyes fixed across the  
living room on the tree. "Things are fine, Donna, why wouldn't they be?"

"Hmm," Donna hummed disbelievingly. Her head pivoted between Jackie and Hyde and she opened her mouth to speak again, only to be interrupted by the reappearance of Kitty.

"Ok! Ok! Settle down!" Mrs. Forman called. She turned down the music to a soft lull and motioned to Laurie. Laurie rolled her eyes, pulling her shirt down over her hips as she stood from the couch and came to stand next to her mother. She crossed her  
arms over her chest and cocked her hip, scowling around at the party guests. Kitty glared at her daughter before plastering on a smile and clapping her hands together. "Now, my little helper here will pass out the presents. Don't open your gift till  
everyone has received theirs!"

Laurie rolled her eyes again, sinking to her knees. Kitty moved off across the living room, squeezing past the TV and the coffee table to her husband at the bar. Red smiled at her softly, sliding a full glass of wine to her. Laurie reached under the tree  
and pulled out the first gift, fumbling for the tag. Her voice was bored as she called out each name, and she stayed on the floor, holding the presents into the air for each recipient to come take. "Kelso."

Michael bounded down the stairs, snatching his gift from Laurie's claws with an "Alright!" He tried to kiss her, but she thwarted him, smacking him across the shins. Kelso cried out, hurrying back to the stairs and Jackie had to work to swallow the thick  
cord of jealousy that had snaked around her esophagus. She may not have wanted to date her ex again, but seeing him so nonchalant with another woman was enough to make her scowl a murderous glare on his retreating form.

"Mr. Pinciotti." Laurie drawled, her eyes swinging around to find Mr. Pinciotti in the crowd. She reached for the next gift as Bob took his from her grasp. She smirked up at Jackie through her feathered bangs, holding out a small box. "Jackie."

Jackie hopped up off the piano bench, smiling demurely as she strutted across the living room. Her hips swayed softly and she could feel the eyes of, not only Steven, but also every hot-blooded male in the room watching her. She locked her eyes on Steven's,  
finding him immediately on the stairs, before turning away. The gold-papered gift gleamed in Laurie's bright red claws and Jackie resisted the urge to scratch her _accidentally_ as she took the present. Laurie smirked at her, shoving the gift  
into her hand. It was a heavy box and Jackie shook it curiously as she made her way back across the room, taking her seat next to Donna.

Jackie's fingers pressed at the box, feeling the lip of the lid and she turned it over and over in her hand. It felt like a jewelry box, and she studied the tag, frustrated when she didn't recognize the handwriting. Her nails pulled at the edges of the  
paper, surreptitiously undoing the tape, her eyes blindly watching as the other people present collected their presents. Steven sought out her eye when his name was called, but kept his head down on the way back to his seat on the stairs, the gift  
from his Secret Santa swinging at his side. Jackie found her eyes watching the movement of his slim hips, and she had to remind herself that she was upset with him.

Donna returned to her side after her name was called, a large package wrapped in shiny pink paper in her hands. She shook the slender box, her eyes narrowed in contemplation. Mrs. Forman raised her glass of wine, her free hand clutching Mr. Forman's across  
the bar top, and announced that everyone could open their gifts.

"Finally!" Jackie cried, ripping off the paper. She opened the box, boasting the Halverson's department store logo, and smiled broadly as she pulled out the golden charm bracelet. A pair of enamel ruby slippers and green gemstones, interspaced with a  
golden wand and multi-tiered castle. There was the bust of a lion and a scarecrow, and a witch's hat. The charms tinkled together as she withdrew it from the box, slipping it over her fingers, and clasping it around her wrist.

"Oh, cool!" Donna exclaimed from her side. "The new Heart album!" Donna flipped the vinyl album over, reading the track list. "Thanks, Jackie, this is awesome. I've been wanting this."

"I know," Jackie said, laughing lightly. "You've been talking about it for weeks."

"Come on, let's go see what the guys got," Donna said. She stuffed the wrapping paper from her gift back into the box and set it to the floor, her arms wrapped about the album. Jackie followed, shaking her charm bracelet on her wrist.

"Alright!" Kelso yelled, tearing open the box to a handheld basketball game. He flipped it in his palms and pushed Fez aside as he tripped down the stairs. "Batteries! I need batteries!"

Jackie stepped aside, and Michael flew past her, knocking his face into the swinging kitchen door in his haste.

"Cool, new belt buckle," Hyde said, producing the grenade buckle and nodding his head in appreciation.

Eric sat a few steps up and away from everyone, hidden behind the open lid of the Millennium Falcon, muttering excitedly to himself. "Man, oh man, Han Solo? _And_ Chewy!"

Steven looked back to Eric, moving aside on his butt to let Donna pass. "Glad you like it, Forman."

"Star Wars, Hyde?" Donna said, plopping down next to her boyfriend. She withdrew C3PO and scowled at the little golden robot. Eric snatched the action figure from her grasp, setting it gingerly back in its slot. "You just had to get him Star Wars."

Steven smirked up at Donna. "Sorry, Pinciotti. Think you've lost your boyfriend for a couple weeks."

Jackie settled in next to Fez, shaking her charm bracelet again. He folded his new shirt, motioning to Jackie's bracelet. "You like it?"

"Is it from you?" Jackie asked, surprised. Fez grinned widely at her, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. Jackie fingered the ruby slippers, smiling back at Fez. "I can't believe you remembered!" She pressed a chaste kiss to his smooth cheek. "Ah,  
Fezzy, you shouldn't have."

"Remembered what?" Hyde asked from above them.

Jackie turned on her stair, looking up at Steven. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his cobalt eyes swinging from the bracelet, to Fez, to Jackie and back again. Jackie leaned back against the banister, an eyebrow raised in a high arc as  
she addressed Steven, hiding her want of him with indifference. "Well, Fez and I were in the mall a couple weeks ago and I saw this gorgeous bracelet in the window at Halverson's!" She shook the bracelet for effect. Steven's eyes followed the movement.  
"The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie!"

"I remember everything you say, Jackie," Fez responded, pressing his hand to his heart.

"Ahh!" Jackie cooed.

"Yeah, yeah, very sweet," Hyde mumbled. He stuffed his new socks and belt buckle back into its box and stamped down the stairs, stepping deliberately between Jackie and Fez. "Anybody need a drink?"

Kelso shuffled over, working a pair of AA batteries into the back of the game. He snapped the covering back over the batteries and started up the game, his eyes focused on the screen. "Beer?"

"Like Red's gonna let me snake beer, idiot," Steven responded stopping by the banister. He peered out over the group of slightly inebriated adults and sighed, hooking his thumbs around his belt loops. "They're not drunk enough yet."

Donna tapped Jackie's shoulder, sliding down the stairs to Hyde's recently vacated stair. "Lemme see your bracelet."

Jackie held her hand over her head, leaning back slightly on the stairs so Donna could grasp her wrist. Steven propped his foot on the bottom step, leaning against the banister. He kept his eyes moving, looking anywhere but at Jackie, for which she was  
grateful. She didn't want to have an awkward stare-down. She didn't want to feel guilty for holding a grudge against him. She knew he was right, he couldn't have told her about Michael. And, as much as she hated to admit it to herself, he hadn't really  
cheated on her at his party.

Well, not technically, she supposed.

She wasn't one to back down, nor was she one to admit when she was wrong. That was for fat, ugly girls. And Jackie was neither.

Donna released Jackie's wrist, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Isn't there beer in the fridge out in the garage?"

"Yeah," Eric said slowly, his eyes set at the action figures in his lap. "But Red counted them all, said they were just for the party."

"Damn," Steven muttered, turning his back to his friends on the stairs and surveying the adults. He turned back to Donna. "What about your house, Pinciotti?"

"There may be a couple cold ones in the fridge," She said dropping her hands between her knees.

"What are we waiting for?" Steven exclaimed.

"Wait, what are we going to say if we get caught?" Jackie asked, gripping the banister. She fixed her eyes on Steven, her heart stuttering when he met her gaze for the briefest of seconds.

"I say we play dumb," Kelso threw in, groaning when his game made a descending crescendo of trilling notes. "Dammit, I lost."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Steven deadpanned. He started off across the living room. "Come on, guys."

Jackie followed behind Eric and Donna with Fez, linking her arm through the foreigners. He held her close to his side, his hands deep in his pockets as they rushed across the cold driveway to the Pinciotti's. Donna opened the back door, grumbling at her  
boyfriend as he cradled the Millennium Falcon in his arms, hurrying past her so that snow wouldn't collect on the hinges.

"You didn't have to bring the action figures with you, y'know," Donna said, opening the fridge and setting the Heart album on the counter. Jackie stepped around the island, pulling herself up onto the counter by the sink. Steven took two of the beers  
from Donna's grasp, popping the tops and offering one silently to Jackie. Their fingers met as she took the beer from his grasp and Steven smirked at her, his eyes full of mischief as he turned to watch Eric and Donna begin to bicker.

"Donna, they are _collectible figures_ ," Eric said slowly, opening the top to the Millennium Falcon at the kitchen table. "Someone could steal them."

"No one wants your weird, little toys, Dork" Jackie spat, bringing the bottle of beer to her lips. She took a small sip, crossing her knees.

Kelso set down his game on the counter, and took a beer from Donna. He twisted the top off with the hem of his shirt, nodding his chin at Steven. "Hey, man, did you bring any hash?"

"Yep," Steven said, taking a swig from his beer. He set his beer down on the island and pulled a baggie of weed from his pocket. "I need to roll a joint though."

"Wait, wait, wait," Donna interrupted stepping up to the island. She held two beers in her hand and Fez reached out with the bottle opener, popping the top on both. Donna grinned around at the occupants in the kitchen impishly. "My parents recently invested…  
In a _bong_."

"No way!" Kelso chuckled. He smiled like an idiot, coming around the island to stand close to Jackie at the counter by the sink. "I've never smoked from a bong before."

"Newb," Steven chastised, smacking Kelso across the back of the head. He stepped close to Jackie, subtly pushing his way between the pair, leaning back against the counter.

Jackie swung her legs away from Steven. Her fingers felt clammy with the sweat of the bottle and from Steven's proximity. She took an impulsive gulp, eyes watering as she swallowed thickly, and set her hand down on the cool Formica, leaning close to where  
Steven stood. He ignored her presence, shaking out the bag of weed in Donna's direction.

"Where is this bong thou speaketh of?" Steven asked Donna, crossing his ankles, his butt pressing into the counter. He hooked the thumb of his left hand in his pocket, his right shoulder cocked towards Jackie. She could smell him, that woodsy scent intermingled  
with weed, and she looked away, her heart in her throat.

Donna grabbed her new album, beckoning them to follow her out of the kitchen. Jackie hopped down off the counter, passing before Steven around the island to stand by Donna at the door to the living room. The girls pivoted on their heels, looking back  
into the kitchen at their men, frozen in their spots around the room.

Jackie scoffed, her hand falling to her hip. "Well? Are you coming, or what?"

Steven smirked at Jackie, pushing off of the counter and pulling hard from his beer. He belched loudly, punching Forman on the deltoid as he passed. "Lead the way!"

"Ow!" Eric cried out, clutching at his arm. "Too. Hard."

Steven pressed his hands to Jackie's hips, turning her around to push against Donna and out into the living room. He shoved her gently, allowing the girls to stumble, giggling into the room. "Come on, Forman! Let the dolls alone for five minutes!"

"They are ACTION FIGURES."

Kelso and Fez followed next their arms wrapped about the others shoulders as they sang Christmas carols. Donna shook her head, leading the others up the stairs to her room. She handed Jackie the Heart album, jerking her head towards her bedroom.

"You guys wait here," She said, opening the door. "I'll be right back."

Donna turned on her heel, hurrying to her parents' bedroom. She opened the door cautiously, disappearing at a creep into the dark room.

Fez pushed Jackie forward into Donna's room. She sank to the end of Donna's bed, her eyes taking in the décor disapprovingly. There were too many rock posters on the walls. Her vanity was decidedly bare. And there were way too many books lining the shelves.  
Jackie felt her lip curl. She bounced on the mattress as Fez plopped next to her on the bed.

"I got it!" Donna whispered excitedly, creeping into her room, the bong held high over her head. She closed the door quietly, as if she expected her parents to sweep in at any moment, catching her in her theft.

"Sweet!" Steven went into Donna's bathroom, emerging a second later with a bath towel. He rolled it into a tight roll, stuffing it at the bottom of Donna's bedroom door. Clapping his hands together, he spun on his heel and said, "And now, for music!"

Jackie held out Heart and Steven took it with a sneer, shaking the black vinyl from its case. "Heart? What, you gonna pull out Joplin next? I didn't take you for such a feminist, Jackie."

"It's not mine," Jackie scoffed, tucking her legs up under her on the bed. "It's Donna's Christmas gift."

"Ah," Steven said, wandering across Donna's room to her stereo.

Michael sat on the floor, crossing his legs Indian style on the carpet. He began to drum his fingers on his shins, watching as Donna sat across from him, her fingers clutched around the glass bong. Eric sat next to Donna, the Millennium Falcon on the  
carpet beside him. He pulled the plastic spaceship closer, angling it by his hip.

"Come on, Princess," Donna said to Jackie as Steven took a spot between her and Kelso. Fez plopped down next to Eric, leaving a space next to Kelso.

Jackie pouted. "But, it's on the floor. Why can't I just sit on the bed?"

"It's not going to hurt you," Donna said, rolling her eyes. She handed the bong to Steven to pack with pot.

"But my dress is new, it's going to get all dirty." Jackie stood from the bed, coming to stand in the open spot between Michael and Fez.

"Just throw it in the wash," Steven mumbled under his breath as he packed the bowl.

"You don't just throw a dress like this in the wash, Steven," Jackie admonished, sinking to her knees. She sat back on her heels, smoothing her skirt over her thighs. "It would ruin the fabric."

"Yeah, yeah," Steven replied, reaching into his pocket for his Zippo. He struck the flint, lighting the outer edge of the bowl. His eyes crossed, brow crinkling, as he watched the chamber fill with smoke, the water bubbling.

 _Warm wind caress her,_

 _Her lover it seems_

Steven pulled the bowl from the bong, sucking in the smoke in one swift inhale. Holding the smoke in rounded cheeks, he held the bong to his left, to Donna, only exhaling when she began her toke. His red eyes drifted halfway closed, and a lazy smile covered  
his mouth.

 _Oh, Annie,_

 _Dreamboat Annie, my little ship of dreams_

Donna passed to Eric, leaning back on the heels of her palms. "What do you think this song means?"

Eric and Fez took their turns, and Jackie grasped the bong, holding it uncertainly in her hand. She had never hit a bong, had only just gotten to where she liked hitting joints. Licking her lips, Jackie took Steven's Zippo, lit it, and burned the last  
of the greens, sucking hard over the chamber's opening. She had gotten the chamber thick with smoke when Michael reached over to her and pulled out the bowl, sending the cloud of smoke deep into her lungs.

The effect was immediate. Her brain felt like it was on a cloud, and her lungs were on fire. She exhaled slowly, her lips round and a feeling like pins and needles spreading up her feet and into her legs. Falling sideways to her butt, she held the bong  
out to Michael for him to take. Her body felt like it weighed a million pounds, and she opened her eyes wide, fighting the pull of her eyelids.

 _Going down the city sidewalk alone in the crowd,_

 _No one knows the lonely one whose head's in the clouds._

"I think it's romantic." Jackie said, brushing her hair back from her face and bringing her legs straight before her.

"Romantic?" Steven bit out curiously, his eyebrows creasing. His cobalt eyes zoned in on her, and Jackie felt like she was on fire under his gaze.

"Yeah," Jackie continued, leaning back on her palms. She crossed her ankles, rocking the heels of her boots back and forth over the carpet. "Like, she goes out on her own, this ship, and it may seem like she's all alone, but she's got a lover she carries  
with her. He's like the wind in her sails, pushing her along."

"Cause she's a ship?" Michael asked, exhaling a cloud of grey smoke into the room, and passing the bong back to Steven.

"What?" Jackie shook her head, confused. "No, she's not a ship. She's _like_ a ship."

"Yeah, she's out there, paving the way for the rest of us," Donna said, nodding her head in agreement. "It's like, she's this independent woman, on the Ocean of Possibility, who doesn't need anyone, and she can walk alone and not be afraid."

"And everyone wonders who she is and where she's going and what she's wearing, cause, obviously, she must have impeccable fashion sense."

"Obviously," Steven said sarcastically, packing a new bowl.

"But she's not alone, Donna, she has a man," Jackie said. She came forward off her hands, palms stinging from the bite of the carpet. "He's the wind."

Everyone paused to stare at Jackie. She swallowed thickly, the sound echoing in her ears. "Yeah, yeah, he's the wind, and she's the ship, and it's so romantic. Without each other… They're nothing. But together… They're unstoppable."

"I think we need a different album," Eric said to Steven and Michael, closest to the records. He took the bong from Donna. "This ones got Jackie speaking in tongues."

Donna held out a large, mannish hand, grabbing onto the sleeve of Steven's shirt. "No, I wanna listen to this. My room. My music."

"All right, whatever," Steven said, falling back onto his butt. He peered across the circle at Jackie, but she ignored him, keeping her eyes trained on the bong as it was passed to Fez.

Silence lulled briefly over the group, before Michael started speaking. But Jackie wasn't listening to him. She watched Fez take his toke; his dark hands on the glass bong, trying in vain to keep from looking over at Steven. She shook her hair out, letting  
a thick lock fall over her shoulder, and pushed her shoulders back, feeling the strain of her small, but perky, breasts against her sweater dress. His eyes were on her, she just knew it, and one quick upward glance at Donna proved it. The redhead  
was smirking, her eyes drifting from Steven to Jackie and back to Steven. Jackie drew her bottom lip into her mouth, working it between her teeth.

"So what do you say?" Michael asked, nudging his shoulder against Jackie's.

Startled, Jackie jumped, forgetting that she was supposed to look alluring and unattainable, and over to her ex. Michael waggled his eyebrows. Jackie shook her head, trying to clear the smoke that had gathered in her brain. "What? What did you say?"

"New Years Eve party, my place," Michael said, nodding his head over at Fez. Jackie turned, taking the proffered bong. She took Steven's Zippo and held it loosely.

"Oh," Jackie said. "Uhm, yeah, I mean, that's cool."

"You gonna hit that?" Michael asked, gesturing down to the forgotten bong in Jackie's hand.

"Don't rush me, Michael," Jackie said caustically. "I know that's a hard concept for you, and all."

"Burn," Donna chuckled.

"Hey!" Michael cried. "I happen to be an excellent lover!"

Jackie scoffed.

"Don't knock it, till you try it, Big D!" Michael said, pointing a finger at Donna. "You might find you like this Love Train."

"Hyde? Would you?" Eric asked, pointing to Kelso.

"On it!" Hyde reached around to Michael, his hand balled into a fist.

Michael cried out, his hand wrapped around his upper arm. "Ow _Eric_!"

-x-

New Years Eve, 1977

Michael Kelso's house, 10:14pm

The Kelso's yard was covered in a thick layer of snow, and rock salt covered the driveway and sidewalk. Christmas lights were strung up around the perimeter of the roof, and in the bushes. A nativity scene was set up in the yard before the large glass  
bay windows of the dining room, lit up by a single spotlight. Cars were parked up and down the street, and Jackie slid out of the back of the Cruiser with a sigh, stepping over a pile of snow up onto the sidewalk.

Jackie pulled her coat tighter about her body, leading the way up the sidewalk to the Kelso's front door. She rang the doorbell, looking back at Steven, Eric, and Donna behind her.

"Why don't you just go in?" Steven said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. His breath left his mouth in white puffs, and he shivered in his thin coat. "It's Kelso, not the Queen of England."

"It's just polite, Steven," Jackie said, cocking her head.

Fez opened the door, followed closely by Michael. "Friends! Welcome to the party!"

Jackie slipped into the foyer, stopping by the stairs to the second story. People were everywhere. Music pulsed from the living room, an eclectic mix of Christmas music and Molly Hatchet. Jackie slid her coat from her shoulders, folding her purse up in  
its depths. She stepped aside as a group of seniors edged past, heading towards the dining room. Raucous cheering erupted from the room and Jackie got a brief glance of a tower of beer cans, nearly to the ceiling, before she was jostled away.

Michael came to a stop at her shoulder, pointing up the stairs. "Janet's out of town with my parents and the little brothers. Everyone is dumping their coats in her room."

The hall was littered with stragglers and a long-line of mostly girls for the bathroom. Jackie led the way down the hall, past Michael's room to the last door on the right. She opened the door, stepping in and immediately out again.

"What's up?" Donna asked, nearly running into her back.

"There were people doing it," Jackie said, her brow creasing in revulsion. "On the coats, Donna, they were doing it on the coats. I'm not putting my coat where people are going to have disgusting sex on it! This is _designer_."

Steven rolled his eyes, placing a hand on Jackie's shoulder and steering her in the opposite direction. "Come on, let's just put them in here."

Mr. and Mrs. Kelso's room was tidy, and the foursome stopped uncertainly in the doorway, peering into the room. Pictures of the Kelso children covered the walls, professional studio types, all pink-cheeked and chubby babies. Casey and John Jr. had spots  
in the center, each dressed in their graduation suits, and Janet was next to them, her thick tortoise shell glasses hiding her face.

Jackie tossed her coat across the end of the bed, under Donna's, and peered around the room. She had only been in here once before, when Mr. and Mrs. Kelso had been out of town and Michael had convinced her it would be hot to do it in his parents bed.  
Shaking her head, she pushed the less than impressive memory out of her mind. Pulling her shirt over her hips, she meandered over the Mrs. Kelso's dresser, looking distastefully over her perfume.

"God, she has to be, like, the only ugly Kelso," Steven called, standing before Janet's picture. He cocked his head to the side and squinted at the photograph. Jackie went to stand beside Steven, her lips pursed, and agreeing with him. Janet truly had  
been hit with the ugly stick, and multiple times from the looks of it. Steven grimaced at the picture. "I don't think I could do it, even if I were drunk."

"Don't be mean, Hyde," Donna said, making for the hall. Eric dumped his coat on the bed and followed after her.

"I'm just saying," Hyde said as they made their way down the stairs towards the kitchen. "It must suck being the only ugly one."

"Thank god I'm beautiful," Jackie said genuinely, shaking her hair over her shoulders. She paused by the counter, her hand on her hip. Donna and Eric were giving her strange looks and Jackie raised her free hand, her shoulders scrunching up around her  
ears. "What?"

"Come, Donna," Eric said, wrapping her arm about his girlfriend's shoulders. "Let us be gone with this conceited hellion."

"There's no need to be jealous, Eric," Jackie said, leaning back against the Formica countertop. "At least you have Donna to help make you seem more attractive than you really are."

Eric pressed a hand to his heart. "You don't have to be so… So truthful."

Donna and Eric disappeared into a clump of their classmates, edging their way towards the keg by the back door. Steven shuffled by Jackie, his head low. He was chewing on his lower lip, his sunglass-covered eyes looking everywhere but at Jackie. He cleared  
his throat, hooking his thumb on his belt buckle. "Want a beer?"

"Sure, I guess," Jackie said, shrugging. She followed Steven across the kitchen, to the keg, smiling as she went, tossing out perky hello's as she passed by. Jeff, the tool she had attempted to use to garner Steven's attention at his Christmas Rager,  
tried to hook her waist and draw her closer, but she sidestepped him, pretending she hadn't noticed. If Steven had reacted to her hanging on Jeff at his party with sleeping with that tramp Claire Miller, she definitely wasn't playing that card again.  
Besides, Jeff had a snaggle tooth and halitosis, and Jackie couldn't get past the sight, staring at his mouth as the tooth appeared and disappeared with his speech. Jeff must have thought Jackie was interested in kissing him, as was evident by the  
attempts he had made that night, and she wasn't wasting a New Years Kiss on Litter Box Mouth Jeff.

Steven poured them both cups of beer, nodding with his head towards the living room. His hand pressed to the small of her back and he guided her through the crowd, bringing them to a stop by a table where a game of quarters was being played. He had been  
strangely attentive all evening, opening her car door for her, while placing the lightest of touches to her body. It was driving her crazy.

Steven melded into the game, taking a spot at the table and Jackie pivoted around on her heel, in search of some of her cheerleading friends. As much as she wanted to crawl into Steven's lap, to stake her claim over him, she wasn't sure she wanted to  
do it quite so publicly, not yet.

Without a word to Steven, she wandered the party, stopping to chat with some of the popular people she met along the way. She watched Donna win at Flip Cup in the dining room, and Eric loose spectacularly at a game of Shotguns, spewing and coughing as  
he attempted to chug his can of beer. Fez and Michael were taking bets as to which one could get the hottest girl to make out with them by the stroke of midnight, and Jackie hurried away from the pair as Michael gave her the look he had bestowed upon  
her multiple times. The one that said he was planning on hitting on her, testing the limits, and usually stealing a kiss.

She also wasn't wasting a New Years Kiss on Michael that much was for certain. She'd make it a point to avoid him for the rest of the night.

Jackie finished her first beer slowly, the alcohol long since warm, and she made her way back to the keg as something to do to keep moving. Steven was winning at his game of Quarters and she watched him as she moved through the living room towards the  
kitchen. Claire Miller was at the fireplace, talking to Ben The Place Kicker and sipping at her beer. Jackie resisted the urge to claw her eyes out as she passed. Claire briefly met Jackie's eye, her own brown eyes swinging around the rest on Steven's  
form, before she hooked her arm through Ben's leading him away.

"Bitch," Jackie mumbled under her breath, her head high and back straight as she pushed her way to the keg.

She got in line for the keg, distracted in her thoughts as she waited for the people in front of her to hurry up and pour their cups. Her foot tapped on the linoleum floor, and she jumped when she felt a hand slide over her shoulder, just coming to a  
stop at the top of her breast.

"Hey, pretty lady." The overwhelming smell of putrid breath filled the air and Jackie bit back a gag as Jeff pressed against her side. "You been avoiding me?"

"Yep," Jackie said, moving forward. Jeff moved forward with her, his arm tight across her shoulders.

"That's not very nice," Jeff clucked, sipping from his cup. "I thought we had a good time together the other night."

"Guess not," Jackie replied, her eyes in search of someone to save her.

Jeff's fingers made a bold move down her top, fingering the strap of her bra. Jackie slapped at his hand, shoving out of his grasp. Jeff's face broke out into a lopsided grin and he quickly wrapped her back in his arm, anchoring her to his side. "Oh,  
come on, foxy lady, there's no need to be like that. All ya gotta do is relax and let me work my magic over ya."

"Ew!" Jackie cried. She shoved hard at Jeff's side, sending him into a girl with long blonde hair. Jeff ignored the girl, his eyes on Jackie. "I don't want you to work _anything_ over me, sicko!"

"What's your problem?" Jeff took a couple steps closer, his rancid breath washing over her face. Jackie's eyes dropped to his mouth, the snaggle tooth making an appearance. "Why are you acting like such a bitch?"

"Wrong word, buddy," Steven's voice broke in. His balled fist soared over Jackie's shoulder, and making contact with Jeff's chin, sending him to the floor.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

A circle formed around the keg, Jeff sprawled in the center on the ground with Steven standing over him. Steven shook out his fist, the knuckles red. Jackie dropped her empty cup, shoving aside the people who jostled her behind them, pushing back so as  
to be out of the swing zone.

"Steven!" Jackie cried, springing forward and grabbing hold of his arm. "Don't!"

Steven spared her a glance, nodding his head slowly. Jeff was clutching his mouth, thick red blood oozing between his fingers. He spat at Steven and Jackie, spraying the bottoms of their jeans with droplets of blood.

"Ugh!" Jackie cried out, jumping back, her eyes set on the bottom of her jeans. "What the hell?"

Jeff stood from the floor, swinging at Steven. Knocking Jackie back, Steven avoided the hit, landing a solid punch to Jeff's temple. Jeff fell like a sack of flour to the floor. A couple of "Oh's!" filled the air, and the room grew tense with silence.  
Steven turned to Jackie, glancing her up and down. "You alright?"

"No!" Jackie cried, tears clinging to her lower lashes. "The bottoms of my jeans are _covered_ in blood, Steven!"

"Mine are too, Jackie," Steven said, glancing down at his own jeans. The circle converged as a couple people bent over Jeff, checking that he was still breathing. Steven spared him a glance. He wrapped Jackie's hand in his own, tugging her out of the  
kitchen and down the hall. "Come on."

The hall was decidedly less crowded, and Steven led Jackie unimpeded up the stairs to the Kelso's master bedroom. He shut the bedroom door behind them and left her, making his way across the carpet into the master bath.

Jackie followed, curious. Steven was opening and closing cabinets, shoving items aside.

"What are you doing?" Jackie asked, swiping the pads of her fingers under her eyes. Her tears had dried, and she crossed her arms tightly across her stomach.

Steven didn't answer her at first, standing to look through the linen closet. He moved aside a pile of towels. "Well, I figure, with how often Kelso gets hurt, his parents have had to have invested in a decent first aid kit."

"Are you hurt?" Jackie asked, coming into the bathroom. She visually inspected Steven, but other than the blood on his jeans, he appeared relatively sound.

"Nope." Steven said. He swung around, showing her a dark brown bottle.

"What's that for?" Jackie asked, taking the bottle. "Hydrogen peroxide?"

"For the blood, Jackie," Steven said, taking the bottle back from her. "Here, up on the counter."

Jackie propped herself up on the counter, leaning back against the mirror. Steven grabbed the hem of her bell-bottoms, swinging Jackie's leg around to hover over the sink. He poured a small stream of peroxide over her jeans, rubbing the material between  
his fingers.

Jackie watched his face, neutral with concentration, as he worked the blood from her jeans. She licked her lips, her eyes falling to watch his hands. "How did you learn to do this?"

Steven cleared his throat. "Tricks of the trade."

"Trade?" Jackie laughed once. "What? The trade of washing blood from clothes?"

"Yup." Steven said. He turned on the faucet, rinsing the bottom of her jeans. "Sorry it'll be soaked, but at least it won't be bloody anymore. Next leg."

Jackie traded legs, bending the knee of her freshly cleaned hem under her chin. Steven's knuckles were red and swollen, and the skin had peeled back across the middle and ring fingers. He worked to clean her other hem, rinsing it with cold water. He was  
quiet as he worked, his eyes fixed on the task at hand.

"Steven, your hand," Jackie whispered, her fingers coming to rest over Steven's. She touched him gingerly, jerking back when Steven hissed at her touch. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Steven replied. He held his hand over the sink, pouring peroxide over the cuts. The peroxide bubbled over his skin and Jackie turned on the tap for him, allowing him to rinse out the small cuts. "Think it was his teeth that did  
it."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Jackie scoffed. "It was probably his snaggle tooth."

Steven grimaced, pressing his hand softly to the bath towel. He screwed the cap back on the peroxide bottle, setting it down on the counter.

"You're not going to rinse out your jeans?" Jackie asked, turning on the counter. She dropped her legs over the lip of the counter, swinging her feet back and forth, her heels softly thumping on the cabinets.

"Nah," Steven said, finally meeting her eye. "Adds character, don't ya think?"

"It's gross, Steven," Jackie said, feeling warm under his gaze.

She reached across the space between them, her hand resting on his stomach. Steven stepped into her touch, coming to rest between her knees. Jackie's fingers manipulated his shirt between her fingers, and she looked up at Steven through her lashes. His  
face was impassive, but his eyes were full of question. Jackie released his shirt, reaching up to slide his sunglasses off his face, hooking them over his collar.

"Thank you for cleaning my jeans," Jackie whispered. Her eyes were locked on Steven's and she resisted the urge to draw her lip between her teeth.

"You're welcome," Steven whispered back. His hands came up to rest on her thighs.

"And thank you for punching out Jeff," Jackie whispered softly.

Steven's mouth quirked up in a grin and his eyes fell to her mouth. "My pleasure."

"Steven-" Jackie started to say, cutting herself off. He had leaned in even closer, his mouth mere millimeters from her own. Steven paused, his eyes rising to meet hers.

At such close range Jackie could see the flecks of gray around the irises of his eyes and she brought her hands up to cup his cheeks. Her thumbs stroked his cheekbones, and Jackie felt like her skin was on fire. She had missed this, she had missed Steven.  
His touch, his gaze, his laugh. She had never thought that she could feel about him the way she felt about him right at this moment. As though she were complete and whole.

"You want me to leave?" Steven asked, drawing away slightly. His hands were warm on her thighs, his fingers spread wide over her jeans.

Jackie shook her head no, pulling him close again. She slid to the edge of the counter, pressing her knees about his hips. Her movement brought her body flush to his, and she had to bite back to sigh that threatened to escape her. "No, stay."

Steven brought a hand up to cup her neck, his thumb rubbing her ear lobe. "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes."

Jackie had barely gotten the word out when Steven pressed his mouth to hers. He was gentle, his lips soft and Jackie moaned into his kiss, her arms drawing around his neck. It was the rush she had felt on the hood of her Daddy's Lincoln at their Veteran's  
Day date. That mind-numbing, earth-shattering experience that left her weak in the knees and wondering how she had ever deprived herself of such a feeling. His hands were soft and insistent, moving across her back so that he had enclosed her in his  
arms. Her head dipped back to rest over his arm, and Jackie sighed, her mouth parting as Steven deepened the kiss, his slick tongue persistent, and Jackie dissolved into his embrace.

Her finger's gripped at Steven's curls, pressing him yet closer, and she wanted this to never end, this complete lack of comprehension. She forgot about the outside world, of the party downstairs, and of Claire Miller. She forgot that there had ever been  
another boy to kiss her lips, or another girl to kiss his mouth. There was only now, this moment, Jackie and Steven.

Steven's arms released her, his hands pressing against her sides. His fingers teased her skin, dipping under her top and sliding tantalizingly slow around her back to cup her shoulder blades. With each caress of his lips, he took her breath away, and  
with each sigh he gifted her with life.

Kissing Michael had never left her as equally satisfied and wanting as kissing Steven did. She felt like her heart was preparing to explode, as though her veins were throbbing, ballooning throughout her body so that her skin turned pink, the blush settling  
over her cheeks and chest in a pleasant heat that left her panting.

Time had ceased, or maybe time had hit the fast-forward button, Jackie couldn't decide. Was it still 1977, or had they been plummeted into the future? Jackie had a stark vision of her wedding day, of standing in her white gown and kissing Steven before  
all her family and friends. And it would be just like this. It would always be just like this, she decided, angling her mouth against his. She smiled against his mouth, her kisses more intense as the image swept over her.

Heat pooled between Jackie's thighs and she groaned at the friction of her jeans against her. Steven broke away from her mouth, his lips trailing over her jaw, across her throat, finding the sensitive spot just below her ear that caused Jackie to shiver  
with anticipation. He latched on and Jackie keened, her hips rolling against his.

"Steven, tell me it'll always be like this," Jackie said breathlessly as he teased her flesh.

Fingers tightening on her hips, his breath like fire, Steven moaned back, "Always."

"Tell me you'll never want anyone else," Jackie said, gripping his hair. She pulled at the locks, drawing his eyes up to meet hers. Her lips felt swollen and tight and Steven's eyes were hooded with lust.

"Never," Steven confirmed, taking her mouth for his once more.

" _Ten! Nine! Eight!"_

Jackie's hands dropped to Steven's belt. She worked the leather strap from it's fastening, as Steven pulled at the hem of her shirt.

" _Seven! Six!"_

It was strange, she thought, how she had refused to let Steven inside of her body. She had already given him the barest parts of her, let him kiss her in places she had never considered letting Michael, and as he pulled her shirt over her head, she marveled  
at how easily she had forgiven him. She had punished Michael for days, for weeks, for each indiscretion. But Steven… She believed him when he told her he'd never want anyone else but her.

Steven's fingers undid the clasp of her bra, drawing the lace fabric down her arms. Jackie undid the buttons of his dress shirt, shoving it over his shoulders where it pooled on the bathmat next to her discarded clothing.

"Did you bring a condom?" Jackie asked, her eyes meeting Steven's. He paused in his undressing of her body.

" _Five! Four!"_

Steven reached silently into his pocket, withdrawing a foil wrapped condom. Jackie felt like a balloon, light as a feather, as she pushed against his hips, sliding down from the counter to undo the button and fly of her jeans. Steven dropped the condom  
onto the counter, working at his own fly. They both shoved their jeans down their legs, stepping out of the denim and coming to claps against the other.

Steven gripped her hips, propping her back onto the counter and Jackie spread her knees wide, granting him access. He reached blindly for the condom, pressing his mouth to hers in a searing kiss.

Jackie kissed his neck, her fingers over his chest as Steven sheathed himself in the condom, dropping the foil package to the floor. He stepped between her legs, his erection pressing into her thigh, and Jackie reached between them, guiding him to her  
entrance.

She leaned back slightly, angling her hips up so Steven could enter her swiftly. His eyes widened and he withdrew, rocking his hips back to hers smoothly. Jackie moaned loudly, her head falling back on her shoulders, at the feeling of Steven filling her.  
He was thicker than Michael, and she felt pleasantly stretched.

" _Three! Two! One!"_

" _Happy New Year!"_

"God, Jackie," Steven moaned, his lips seeking hers. One hand pressed to the small of her back, the other deep in her curls.

"Steven," Jackie moaned back, her eyes squeezed shut.

They curled around the other, the scent of their sex filling the air, and Jackie clung to Steven. The counter was hard under her butt and she pressed against his shoulders, sliding down off the counter and turning her back to him. She watched him in the  
mirror, saw the look on his face as he took in her form, the blush that had settled across his chest, and she spread her knees as he slid into her from behind, filling her once more. He grasped her hips, rocking into her. Their eyes met in the mirror's  
reflection. Her insides quivered and Steven released her hips, his hands coming forward to cup her breasts. She broke eye contact, arching her back and turning her face to his and he obliged, kissing her thoroughly.

"Are you close?" Steven whispered against her mouth and Jackie nodded wordlessly. His rhythm began to come undone, and as she convulsed around him, he spilled into her, gasping his pleasure.

Steven held her close, easing out of her. Their skin was slick against the others and Jackie caressed the arms wrapped about her. He kissed the back of her neck, his breath hot and pulsing from his nostrils. His kisses travelled over her shoulder, and  
Jackie turned in his embrace, her hands coming up to cup his cheeks, her mouth falling to his.

Steven smirked against her mouth, nipping her lip, his nakedness pressed to her nakedness. "Happy New Year, Jackie."

Jackie smiled, suddenly feeling giddy. "Happy New Year, Steven."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 **A/N: So, there's this. After the last chapter, geez, something better needed to happen between these two. As always, please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Twenty-One**

 _It isn't easy to show  
What I'm feeling inside, girl  
It isn't easy, I know  
To believe in a man like me, like me  
Can't you see  
I've gotta, gotta have you_

 _-Something About You,_ Boston

-x-

January 1st, 1978

The Kelso's Master Bathroom

12:08 a.m.

Steven yanked his jeans up his legs, buttoning them at the waist with trembling fingers. He collapsed on the closed toilet lid, wiping his hand across his sweaty forehead. He felt short of breath, and his heart was pounding against his ribs in time with the music pulsing through the tiled floor from the living room below. _More fucking Molly Hatchet,_ Steven thought, propping his forehead in his palm.

Warm hands touched his hair, tangling with his curls, the manicured nails trailing luxuriously over his scalp. The tenderness soothed him, coating his body like a balm. Steven reached forward, pulling her body close. Her skin smelt heady and faint with her perfume, and he pressed his nose to her stomach, his shoulders rising as he inhaled deeply. He kissed her hipbone, bringing his cheek to rest against her belly.

"I don't want to go back," Jackie whispered, wrapping her arms protectively about his head. Her fingers drifted through his hair, pushing him away so she could sink onto his lap, straddling his waist. Her plump bottom lip disappeared between her teeth, emerging moist and red. Jackie pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth, her fingers playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. "Let's just stay here, forever."

Chuckling, Steven pulled back, gripping at her waist. "Might be a little awkward when Kelso's parents get back."

Jackie smiled demurely, resting her elbows across his shoulders. "True." Her eyes rose to meet his. "I still don't want to go back, Steven."

Steven ran the tip of his pointer finger along the curve of her jaw, taking in every minute detail of her. Her mussed hair, and flushed cheeks. He had left a mark on her shoulder, bright purple against her pale skin. Gooseflesh has risen over her arms, the fine hairs standing on end. Steven felt loose and almost giddy, and Jackie was so warm against him. A smile covered his mouth and he didn't fight to suppress it. "So we won't go back."

"Where will we go?" Jackie asked brightly, leaning back on his lap. She was still naked, unashamedly so, and Steven's eyes dropped to watch his hands trace over her.

"Wherever you want to go, Doll," Steven whispered, his thumbs circling over her nipples.

"Paris?" Jackie asked softly, rolling her hips over his.

"Maybe, someday," Steven answered roughly, his head dipping to press kisses to her shoulders and neck.

"What about now?" Jackie replied, rolling her pelvis harder over his growing erection. "Where will you take me now?"

Steven held her tight to him, moving to lay her across the floor, her hair a halo about her head. The way she looked at him, so adoringly, both scared him and moved him, and he answered her with his body. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, that he would take her anywhere in the world she wanted to go, even if it killed him. He would die a poorer man than he already was, if it meant that she would always look at him the way she was now. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, just then, in this moment, sweaty and flush with sex. And she was his. All his.

He'd never let her go.

-x-

Jackie curled against his side, her slick skin sticking to his, and rest her head in the curve of his neck. Her fingers swirled over his chest, teasing at the sparse hair along his sternum. She sighed, breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"What?" Steven asked roughly, a feeling of inadequacy instantly sweeping over him. He felt a wall spring up between them, that automatic response that had protected him for years, from Edna, from Bud, from anyone who had ever looked down their nose at him. It was reflexive and involuntary. He cleared his throat, staring up at the white popcorn ceiling. The heater vent had a layer of dust and he found he couldn't stop staring, trying to quell the feeling that had taken over. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just," Jackie began, raising her head and adjusting her body against him so she could look him in the eye. Her fingers spread over his chest. "It's kind of funny, is all."

"What is?" Steven asked, a scowl taking over his features.

"Well, us, of course!" Jackie answered. She pressed a kiss to his jaw, her left hand coming up to cup his neck. Another giggle escaped her as she tucked her head back under his chin, her left arm moving to wrap around his waist, her fingers pressed under his hip. She brought her leg up, hooking it over his thighs. "The whole thing, it's funny."

"We're funny?" Steven asked gruffly. He rubbed at his eyes, fighting the feeling that was threatening to close him off to her completely. The instantaneous draw of it was aggravating to him and he dropped his hand to her thigh, working his lips over his teeth. "Doll, I think we're many things, but I wouldn't call it funny."

"Sure it is, Steven, don't be like that," Jackie said, sighing. Her arm tightened about his waist. "I mean, did you ever think we'd make it here?"

"In the Kelso's bathroom?" Steven said sardonically. "Nope, can't say I did."

"You know what I mean," Jackie said, annoyed, her fingers pinching his side. She grew quiet for a beat. "Are you happy?"

"Are you?" Steven asked softly and quickly.

Jackie brought her head up to look at him, her chin resting on his chest. "I asked you first."

Steven bit down on his tongue. The wall protecting him was hard around his heart, filling the microscopic spaces between their bodies and he wished he could fall through the floor. His shoulders rose in a shrug, the shag bathmat biting at his skin.

Jackie opened her mouth to speak, her eyes drifting closed as irritation crossed her features. A loud banging on the bathroom door startled her up into a sit. She brought her arms up to cover her breasts, her knees drifting closed. Her wide eyes met Steven's, looking down at him still prone on the rug.

Michael's voice called through the wood, "Hey! Quit hogging the bathroom!"

Steven popped up into a seated position, turning to stare over his shoulder at the door. "Fuck."

Kelso pounded on the door, a quick set of three. The knob rattled and Jackie was up, scooping items of her clothing from the floor.

"Oh, my God, oh, my God," Jackie chanted, pulling her underwear up her legs. "No, no, no, no."

Laughter reached through the door as Steven pulled his jeans up his thighs, reaching almost blindly for his shirt. He shoved his arms through the holes, cursing when he realized it was all twisted in the back. Jackie stripped it from his arms, shaking it out and tossing it back to him. Kelso tried the knob again. "Are there people doin' it in there? _Alright!_ "

"Steven!" Jackie hissed, pulling her shirt over her head. Her hair rose with static, and she shocked him with electricity when her fingers wrapped across his wrist. She jerked him to her side. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, we could just _go out there_." Steven said, buttoning up his shirt. He picked up his sunglasses from the counter, shoving them up his nose.

"Michael will kill you," Jackie said matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, now come on, you can't still be doin' it. It doesn't take that long." Michael said, the knob twisting furiously in the lock. A girl's giggle followed, and Michael whispered something unintelligibly, bursting out into deep giggles of his own.

"I see that 'Apollo Rocket of Love' thing was a sham," Steven said sarcastically, staring at the door. He turned to Jackie, hooking a thumb on the pocket of his jeans. "He's not going to kill me, Jackie, you two haven't been together for a year."

Jackie crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, sure, he's just going to be ok with the fact that we've been keeping this whole thing a secret for months. Would you be ok with _him_ dating _me_ , if you and I had dated first?"

"See, Kelso wouldn't have you second, cause I wouldn't have cheated on you fourteen thousand times," Steven shot back, moving towards the door. He paused, turning back to Jackie. "Besides, you were the one who wanted to keep this whole thing a secret."

"You agreed!" Jackie hissed, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. Her eyes were wide and two twin pricks of red colored her cheeks. She pulled her shirt over her hips, and smoothed her hair, swallowing thickly to compose herself. Her rounded eyes set on the closed door. "Steven. Believe me, this won't be good."

"Well, what do you suggest, Jackie?" Steven asked, growing impatient. "It's not like we can sneak out the fucking window!"

"Don't yell at me, Steven," Jackie said, her voice rising in pitch. She waved her hands at him. "Just- Just-"

"Jackie?" Kelso's voice asked inquisitively from the other side of the door.

Steven and Jackie looked to each other with surprise and trepidation. If Steven's heart had been pounding before, it was nearly frozen with stillness now.

"Jackie? I know that's you, I would recognize that voice _anywhere_." Kelso continued. The doorknob jiggled again. "Are you ok? Why are you in the bathroom? Is someone in there with you?"

"Michael, just go away!" Jackie called, her voice strained. She raised her thumb to her mouth, her teeth working at the nail.

"Are you ok? I heard about Jeff." Michael said. A thumping sound, like his head hitting the door resounded through the tiled room. "Karen said that Hyde punched him out." His voice became briefly muffled. "Right Karen? Hey is Hyde in there? I haven't seen him. Hyde?"

Steven leaned back against the linen closet door, quiet, watching Jackie as she tore her thumbnail to shreds, pacing back and forth across the small room. The wall around his heart was fortified now. Of course, she would be worried about Kelso finding out. She wouldn't want Kelso to know that she had lowered herself to sleeping with him. And to think, just moments ago, things had been pretty fucking good. Jackie stopped her pacing, leaning back against the counter, her bloodied thumb falling back to her side.

"Jacks, come on, open the door." Michael whined. "You didn't have to run away, I would've kissed you at midnight. Ow! Karen, I was just saying, geez… I would've kissed you too, damn."

Steven's eyes fixed on Jackie. He watched her fidget, her big round eyes shiny with unshed tears.

"I mean, it's not like you should be surprised, you're hot, of course guys are going to want to hit on you," Michael continued. The doorknob rattled softly. He sounded drunk, his words running together. "That's why we were such a great couple, we were both so hot together. Dammit, Karen, quit hitting me!"

Jackie's eyes rose to meet Steven's. She looked defeated, scared. Steven kept his face Zen, refusing to budge. This was it, the deciding factor. He had hoped that having sex with her would seal the deal, that pouring the emotional parts of himself into her physically would be enough. But as always, with her, it was never enough. Maybe he wasn't enough. She would have to be the one to fix this, to assure him she was serious. Words only said so much. Actions spoke louder.

Steven's chin dropped to rest against his chest. He sighed, his eyes drifting closed. He felt he imagined the feel of Jackie's hands on him, desperate for her, but when he opened his eyes, she was there in front of him, her fingers enclosed over his crossed arms. Her eyes were resolute as she stared at him and she stepped closer, her pelvis meeting his.

"Steven," Jackie started, pausing when Michael's head pounded against the door, once, twice, three times. Her jaw clenched and her fingers tightened. The tears had faded, replaced with resolution. "Let's go. Together. Let's just tell him."

"Why the sudden change of mind?" Steven asked, smirking at her. A warm feeling spread up his arms from where she was touching him.

Jackie licked her lips. "It's going to be hard either way, proving our love." Steven grimaced at that. " _But_ I believe in what I feel for you. Don't you? In what you-" she swallowed thickly, shifting from foot to foot, "-well, what you feel about me?"

Steven shrugged again, ignoring the way Jackie's eyes flickered with hurt and something akin to insecurity. He let his arms fall, his hands softly gripping her hips. Jackie accepted his kiss, her arms wrapping tight about his shoulders. With their foreheads pressed together, Jackie sighed heavily, her breath sweeping over his face. Steven patted her butt affectionately, slipping his hands into the pockets. "Alright then. Ready, Doll?"

Jackie nodded, pressing a soft kiss to his mouth, her fingers reaching to her back to thread with his. She rolled her eyes, dropping a hip. "Really, I can't believe we got away with it for this long. You're a terrible liar."

Steven flicked the lock on the bathroom door, turning the knob and stepping back as Michael fell, unbalanced into the room. Kelso laughed as he stumbled, righting himself off the towel rack. Jackie's fingers tightened around Steven's and he squeezed hers in response.

"Hyde and Jackie!" Michael said, his face spread into a goofy grin. He wrapped his gangly arms about the two of them, pulling them close before releasing them. Karen Nixon stepped into the doorway after him, swaying with drink. Kelso gestured to her over his shoulder. "You guys remember Karen right? She's on the gymnastics team."

"I play the clarinet," Karen corrected, taking a long sip of her drink.

"Oh, yeah, she plays the saxophone," Michael said dismissively. His doe eyes swept over Jackie and Steven standing sentinel by the sink, still clasped hand in hand. "What are you two doing in the bathroom?" He gasped dramatically. "Do you have bud?"

"Uhm," Steven hummed. He looked to Jackie, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Ah, man, you got bud, don't you?!" Michael reached for Karen, pulling her into the bathroom. He closed the door roughly behind her, pressing the lock. He sniffed at the air as he took a seat on the edge of the tub. "Man, Hyde, you've gotten to be so stingy lately, man, what's up with you? It doesn't smell like bud in here."

"That's because we haven't burned one," Jackie said snottily, her eyes swinging around to focus on each occupant in the room.

Karen sank to sit next to Michael at the tub, her eyes glazed and unfocused. She pushed her hair back over her shoulders, raising her cup to her mouth. "It smells like sex."

Michael burst out laughing again, spilling some of his beer onto the bathmat. Jackie's fingers were slick in Steven's and he resisted the urge to glance at her, digging deep into his bag of Zen. Kelso continued, sipping at his beer. "Hyde and Jackie? But you two hate each other! Nah!"

"How about that joint, huh?" Steven said, pushing Jackie to sit on the toilet lid. He detangled their fingers, reaching into his jeans for a joint.

"I told you, Hyde always has something on him," Michael said, wrapping his arm about Karen's shoulders. He glanced at Jackie, sipping at his drink. "So. How are you, Jackie? Having a good time?"

"I'm fantastic, Michael, thank you," Jackie said, crossing her legs at the knee.

Steven slid onto the counter, smoothing out the joint. He lit his zippo, holding it to the end of the spliff, and inhaled deeply. Some hash would definitely calm his frayed nerves. Jackie took the joint from him, taking a small hit before holding it out for Karen to take. She met his eye, her look unreadable.

"You two have missed a lot of the party," Karen remarked as Michael took his puff.

Steven's eyes narrowed. He drummed his fingers on the inside of his thigh, his feet hanging heavy over the edge of the counter. "What's it matter to you?"

Karen shrugged, taking a long sip of her beer. She listed severely catching herself on the shower curtain just before she tumbled into the tub. Kelso took another toke, his doe eyes watching as Karen pulled herself by the curtain, the rings straining against the shower rod. She pushed her long hair over her shoulder again, her voice soft, "It's just an observation. I am so drunk"

Kelso held the joint out to Steven to take, winking at Hyde as Karen leaned heavily against Kelso, her hand high on his thigh. The room was growing hazy with smoke and Steven looked to Jackie as he placed the joint between his lips. She was completely unbothered on the outside, her mouth pursed and her eyes trained on the picture hung over the towel rack across the room. He could only imagine what was going on in that head of hers. Steven nearly choked on the smoke in his lungs as Michael spoke next.

"It does smell like sex in here." Kelso's eyes narrowed, and he looked down at himself, pressing his nose to the collar of his shirt. "It's not me…"

The room dissolved into a tense silence, save the racking coughs Steven emitted as he tried to catch his breath again. Karen smiled around at everyone in that drunken way, her glassy eyes red and watery. She began to hiccup loudly, her whole body shaking with each contraction of her diaphragm. Her pointer finger pressed to her breast and she tipped her beer, sloshing it onto the mat. "I said that! I said it smells like sex, like, as soon as we walked in here."

Jackie's eyes met Steven's and she stood from the toilet, coming to stand by him at the counter. She pulled herself up to sit beside him and Steven stared down at his lap, fighting back a smile.

"Hyde. And Jackie." Michael said, his face scrunched up as though in pain as he looked at his ex-girlfriend and oldest friend pressed together on the counter. "Jackie. And _Hyde_."

"Michael-" Jackie started to speak, but Steven dropped a hand to her knee, squeezing her flesh.

"Nope, let him figure it out," Steven said, leaving his hand on her thigh. Her warmth seeped into his hand, anchoring him.

Karen's eyes grew wide and she belched softly. "I don't feel so good."

"Why _were_ you two in the bathroom? Alone?" Michael asked, taking his arm from Karen's shoulders.

Steven looked away, feeling awkward. He hated this sort of thing, this confrontational bit. Sometimes he wished people could just read his thoughts, some of his thoughts anyway, and then they could skip all the talking and explaining. Jackie's fingers rose to cover his own over her knee. He could feel her racing heart beat pulsing through her fingers.

"I really don't feel well," Karen said, her voice strained. She set her cup on the lip of the bath, ignoring the plastic cup as it fell into the tub, clattering against the porcelain.

"She really doesn't look so good," Steven said, looking up to Karen's pale face.

"I think she's going to puke," Jackie agreed, sliding off the counter and moving to Steven's other side, away from the toilet.

Michael glanced at Karen then back to Jackie and Steven. He looked strangely focused, despite his drunkenness. "Did you two… Did you have sex? Jackie?"

"Michael, I think there are more pressing matters to take care of right now," Jackie said, pulling on Steven's hand, edging herself towards the door. "If she throws up, I'm going to puke, Steven."

Kelso stood from the tub just as Karen doubled over, her head between her knees. She belched again, softly, and Jackie gagged, pulling harder at Steven's hand. Michael turned, looking down at Karen, his face blank. Karen took a deep, ragged breath, her mouth open in an 'O' as vomit poured out of her and all over the floor.

Steven grimaced, sliding off the counter and hurrying out of the bathroom, Jackie in front of him.

"Ugh!" Kelso cried from the bathroom. "Man, Karen! Damn, are you ok? Fuck! No, not on the floor! Come on, in the toilet."

Jackie grabbed hers and Steven's coats off the bed, shoving his into his arms. Karen vomited loudly in the bathroom and Michael appeared at the door, looking to Jackie and Steven expectantly. Jackie gripped Steven's coat, "Let's go, please."

"Don't need to ask me twice," Steven replied, slipping his coat over his arms. "Come on, Doll."

-x-

Steven wrapped his arm about Jackie's shoulders, pulling her close to his side, and turning to place a quick kiss to her hair. He settled into the driver's seat of the Cruiser, coasting down Point Place's iced streets towards the Forman's house. The night was heavy and quiet with the promise of fresh snow. Jackie leaned forward, angling the vent on their bodies, bathing them in warm air.

Eric hiccupped from the back seat, filling the silence. He cleared his throat, his pointer finger scratching at his nose. "Hey, Hyde?"

"What, man?" Steven said, glancing up to look at Forman's shadowed face in the rearview mirror.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Eric said, swaying to the right, his face pinched.

"Oh, my God, Steven," Jackie said, turning to look at Eric in the backseat. "Pull over. Now."

Steven jerked the wheel, fish tailing over some black ice as the car took the curb, all four occupants jerking in their seats. Eric sprang across the car, barely opening the door before he vomited into the snow. Donna opened her eyes to a squint, never moving from her spot against the opposite side door. She reached out a long arm to pat the nearest part of Eric she could touch, his butt, while she shushed him as one would a crying baby. She closed her eyes tightly and licked her lips, swallowing thickly. "There, there, Eric."

"You alright, man?" Steven asked, turning to look at his friend over his shoulder. Eric vomited again, spitting into the snow.

Eric sat up into his seat, his forehead sweaty. He slammed the door closed taking a deep, steadying breath. "Yeah, let's go."

Steven nodded his head, pulling the Cruiser back out onto Magnolia. Jackie was grimacing, her mouth down turned. She curled against Steven at his touch, bringing her legs up to rest on the seat. The fur collar of her coat was soft on his fingers, and he stroked the material absently, easing the Cruiser to a stop at the end of the street. Jackie sighed against him, her hand coming to rest on his thigh.

Silence spread over them for some moments, and then Eric belched loudly, his long fingered hands dropping to the back of the front bench seat. He pulled himself up, his chin resting beside Jackie.

Eric cleared his throat. "So. You two want to tell me something?"

"You need a breath mint," Jackie stated, turning her face away.

Steven braked at Magnolia and Marie Street. "Man, Forman, your breath is pretty rank."

Eric pulled back slightly. Then set his chin back on the back of the seat, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe."

Jackie slid closer to Steven, nuzzling under his chin.

A loud, shuddering sigh exploded into the air beside them. Steven looked over Jackie's head as they neared the Forman's drive. "What's up, Forman, you gonna puke again?"

Eric drew back, his long fingers gripping the seat before him. His green eyes were narrowed, set out the windshield. He pursed his mouth, smacking his lips as he began to speak. "You know. I didn't believe it when Donna told me."

"You told?" Jackie shrieked, pulling out of Steven's arm. She spun around in her seat. "Donna!"

"Eric," Donna mumbled, her eyes still closed. "I didn't tell you anything."

"Yeah, Donna, you said Hyde was dating the Devil," Eric said matter-of-factly. "I just couldn't believe it. But it's really true, huh? Hyde?"

"Donna!" Jackie admonished.

Donna adjusted her position against the door, bringing her pointer finger to press to her lips. "Shh, Eric."

"What did Donna tell you, exactly?" Jackie asked, peering at Eric.

Steven was wondering the same thing. He withdrew from Jackie, leaning forward in the drivers seat. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, staring straight out of the windshield as the Forman's house came into view. "Forman, man, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Eric asked, his voice full of admonition. "The _big deal_? Oh, I don't know, how about the fact that you're sleeping with the Devil?"

Jackie scoffed, scooting over to sit in the passengers seat.

"Eric," Donna moaned softly. "Now is not the time."

Eric looked to Donna, then back to the two in the front seat. He waited as Steven pulled into the drive, throwing the car into park. "Yeah, Forman, come on, it's late. You're drunk. You won't remember this in the morning anyway." He brightened, slapping his open palm on the seat. "Actually, yeah, let's go ahead and talk about this."

"Steven, really," Jackie said, pulling her coat tight about her body.

Steven turned to look at Eric. "What do you wanna know?"

Eric looked at Steven in shock and confusion. "What? You're gonna tell me? For real?"

"The chances of you remembering all of this conversation tomorrow are fairly slim, so yeah, why not," Steven said, folding his arms over his chest.

"So you two are really sleeping together?" Eric asked, his green eyes shifting from Steven to Jackie and back again. He hiccupped, jolting in his seat.

"We _make love_ doofus," Jackie interjected. She turned to look out the window at the Forman's house. "Not that it's any of your business…"

"We fuck, yeah," Steven said, avoiding the look Jackie fixed on him and the slap of her long fingers to his bicep.

"That's so… Disgusting," Eric whispered, shuddering. "What about what this will do to the group?" He gasped, his eyes round. " _Kelso!_ "

"That's really none of your business, man," Steven said, taking the keys from the ignition. "Come on, it's freezing out here."

"Wait, wait, wait," Eric said as Steven took Jackie's hand, pulling her across the bench seat to exit the car by his side. Steven paused as he was about to slam the door, bending at the waist to lock eyes with Forman. "I don't get it, how did this happen?"

"He loooooves her," Donna crooned from her seat. She gathered her jacket about her body, opening the door slowly. "He's been in love with her for, like, ever, duh."

Steven remained quiet. He closed the driver's side door, swinging the keys in his hand.

"Donna, you need help gettin' home?" Steven asked. Donna shuffled her way to the front of the car, leaning against the warm hood.

"She told him about us, Steven, she can walk herself," Jackie said petulantly, crossing her arms.

"Nah, I got it," Donna said, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "And I couldn't help it, I had to talk to someone about it! It's just, so creepy and unnatural."

"You promised, Donna!" Jackie said hotly.

"Yeah, yeah, it's only Eric," Donna said, making her way across the drive.

"Yeah," Eric said vehemently. He paused, shaking his head. "Wait, what do you mean 'It's only Eric'?"

"Love you, mean it," Donna called sarcastically over her shoulder as she trudged across the thick layer of snow covering her yard.

Eric watched her as she slipped up to the back door. "She's such a sweetheart."

"Alright, Forman, see ya later," Steven said quickly, leading Jackie down the drive to the Camino parked at the curb.

"You best think long and hard about what you're doing!" Eric called as they left. He muttered to himself all the way to the sliding door, disappearing into the dark kitchen.

"Come on, Doll," Steven said, opening the passenger door. Jackie slid into the Camino, reaching across the bench seat to unlock the driver's door. Steven hurried around the front of the Camino, snapping the door closed behind him. The car started with a loud rumble, the whole body shaking as the engine worked to warm itself. Steven shifted to first gear. "Your parents home?"

"No, they're at a dinner party," Jackie said, sliding closer. "Mr. Bedford is hosting this party for all the local councilmen, so they'll be gone for another couple of hours."

"They won't come check on you? When they get back?" Steven asked, stopping at the corner. He glanced at Jackie in the soft blue light filtering from the dash. Her face was impassive and she shrugged her shoulders.

"They don't usually," Jackie turned to glance out the window as the Camino started moving again. "Daddy will be up early tomorrow, he's gone just after breakfast. And mom will sleep in till probably lunch. Martina won't say anything. Not after I threatened to report her to immigration after Michael slept-."

"Hmm," Steven hummed, not missing the way she cut herself off.

"Your parents won't wonder where you are?" Jackie asked hurriedly.

"Nah, they're up at the Dells. Reliving their first date or something." Steven pulled to the curb across from the Burkhart's, cutting the ignition. "Edna said she wanted to check in on an old friend, some guy she used to know. Bud went to make sure she comes back with his car."

"Romantic," Jackie muttered as they clambered out of the car.

"Keeps them out of my hair for a bit," Steven said. Jackie tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow, her eyes set on the slick pavement as they hurried across the street.

"Steven, if you ever take me to a musty motel in the Dells, I will seriously hurt you," Jackie promised as they entered the gate.

"Don't worry, Princess," Steven said, closing the gate behind them. "I don't get any fancier than a tent down by the river."

-x-

Steven's eyes opened blearily.

The house was dead quiet, save the steady _tick_ _tock_ of the clock on the bedside table. But that wasn't what had kept him up for the past couple of hours. It wasn't even Jackie hogging the bed, her warmth a sauna under the heavy blankets she had insisted on keeping over them.

His arms tightened about Jackie's waist. The world felt surreal around him. He felt like a different person, stuck in the montage of happy memories they play for the title character of a film, right before everything goes to shit. Everything had that glint of newness, shiny and soft about the edges, and the air was somehow sweeter.

Donna's words rang over and over in his head, an endless loop that was starting to make him feel like he was losing his mind.

 _He loooooves her. He loves her. He loves her._

Yeah, he supposed he did love her. As much as he felt it were possible. After all, love was just an enticing cocktail of chemicals, stimulated by the brain. Testosterone, and serotonin, and dopamine, and adrenaline. It was all easily explainable. The media drowned the masses with the idealism of love, shoving conversation hearts and roses down their throats till it was all men could do to keep women happy with meager declarations and gifts.

But yet…

The way he felt right now. It was so much more. So much more than a drunken stupor his body subjected him to.

After all the time he had imagined her and wanted her, teased her and hated her. He had always had a soft spot for her. There was just something about her, despite the spoiled exterior. There was something hidden behind her eyes that was begging to be released. And it had enticed him just as much as the appeal of her body. And now she was his.

Kelso had tried explaining it to them, when he and Jackie had first started dating. They were all gathered in a circle, the haze of their smoke cut only by the voice of Bob Seger playing on the stereo. Kelso was expressive in his movements, his face drawn into a scowl as he contemplated how to say what he felt.

"She's not just this spoiled rich girl," He'd started. Steven remembered he had scoffed, sitting back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest and left leg propped over his right knee. "No, man, I mean it. She's rich, yeah, and popular, but she's got this, this… this thing…"

"Jackie Burkhart is a goddess," Fez interjected, picking as a bowl of Chex mix. "She is the most beautiful girl I have seen yet."

"She's hot, we get it," Steven said, his voice loud over the others as they started to bicker. "Keep going, Kelso, tell us why we should tolerate her."

"She's giving, and she's smart. She's smarter than me, that's for sure-"

"Like that's hard," Eric said, taking a large toke from the joint.

"I mean it, she's always talking about this stuff, man, I don't even know what it is, she goes on and on, I gotta tune her out, but it sounds smart," Kelso continued. "Although, a lot of the time she'll gossip, that's easier to follow." He scratched at his jaw. "Plus, she's got a smoking bod. And she's limber as hell. She can put her ankles all the way up by her ears."

"Ohhh," Fez sighed, his eyes glazing as he fell into a stupor. He brought his hands up beside his face, at ear level, a lascivious grin on his mouth.

"Kelso, while I could possibly enjoy the rather explicit image you just placed in my head if it were anyone other than Jackie," Steven had started, uncrossing his arms. He frogged Fez half-heartedly, drawing the foreigner back into the conversation. "You're trying to give us a reason to allow her in the basement, man. She's shallow, she's annoying, and she's a fucking cheerleader. If I have to listen to one more round of gossip about Kat Peterson and Teresa What's-Her-Name fighting over Johnny Cub Scout, I swear to God, Kelso, I will strangle her with the headphone cord."

"That's the part you gotta tune out," Kelso said dismissively, settling back on the couch. "Just give her a chance, guys, you'll come to like her." He scowled, as if he didn't believe what he was saying. "Eventually."

Steven scoffed softly, pulling himself from the memory. He quickly had understood though, what Kelso had so inarticulately said. There was something more to Jackie. She did her homework on Saturday nights. She was competitive. It was in the way she automatically turned to him whenever Kelso said something stupid, her eyes rolling hard in their sockets, and set directly on Steven, as if she knew that he sympathized. Like they had had some private joke. And whenever Kelso cheated, did something stupid, whenever Kelso hurt her feelings, didn't tell her he loved her, it was always to Steven she came for comfort. It was Steven's arms she sought out, pressing herself to him and crying softly against his neck. He'd come to watch out for her, feel sorry for her. Care for her.

She was like a tick, infecting him with her attention and love.

No matter the fact he had found himself watching her, sometimes without realizing he was staring, in school, from the first time he'd seen her in the Piggly Wiggly, to the first time she met the gang as a whole at Point Place Secondary School. He'd pushed it off as contempt, for her bragging of having more money, of her snide looks at his ripped jeans and dirty hair. But she had watched him too. He'd seen her staring, from her spot at the popular table in the cafeteria, both of them glaring at one another until she blinked and turned away, the both of their faces etched with matching scowls. She'd made his blood boil.

Jackie twitched, her lips parting with a soft exhale. She made to roll onto her stomach, but Steven kept his arm tight about her waist, keeping her on her side.

 _He loves her…_

Is that really what he felt for her? He supposed it could be. He had been enamored with her, he assumed, for some time. He had lusted after her, dreamt of her, and worked overtime to get Kelso caught in his cheating.

Is that what love was? Or maybe that was just what any decent friend did for another friend. How the hell was he to know anyway?

Bud and Edna was certainly not the couple to base any relationship on. They were unfaithful, aggressive, and lied to one another more often than they told the truth. They drank like fish and often forgot they had brought their only son along with them, leaving him to walk home from the mall in the middle of a blizzard on more than one occasion. He imagined Jackie's parents weren't much better. Steven hadn't heard anything good from anyone about the Burkhart's marriage. It was no unknown secret that Mr. Burkhart regularly had affairs with his secretaries. Or that Pam Burkhart was such an amazing realtor due to the fact that in lieu of closing costs, the husbands and single men alike were able to close on her.

It would explain why Jackie kept going back to Michael, believing him when he said it'd never happen again, that he'd always be faithful. Jackie had fallen for his spiel hook line and sinker, much to the chagrin of the rest of the gang. In the beginning, it was because she was still around, annoying them till Steven had thought out several different methods of murdering her and hiding her body without getting caught. Then it turned into the collective sigh of pity. Jackie probably knew nothing different than what her father said to her mother, what Kelso had said to her.

Steven pressed his lips to the nape of Jackie's neck, his eyes drifting closed. He'd be different than his parents; they'd be different than their parents. He'd do right by Jackie, as best as he could.

"Steven?" Jackie whispered, her eyes opening and closing. She yawned, stretching like a cat in his arms. "Why are you awake?"

"Just thinkin'." Steven whispered back. He kissed her neck again. "Sorry to wake you."

"It's hot," Jackie said, pushing the covers down with her feet. She prodded his arm, twisting in his grasp. "I want to snuggle."

"Jackie, we are snuggling," Steven said, loosening his grip so she could roll over to face him.

Jackie nestled under his chin, her long hair tickling his face. Steven pushed it away, angling his jaw up on the pillow. "I don't want to snuggle like that anymore."

"You are a pain in my ass," Steven muttered. Jackie spun over on the mattress, toeing the blankets high enough for her to grab, pulling them up over their hips.

Jackie sighed, pressing herself to him. She wrapped her arms tight about his middle. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"No," Steven answered gently. His fingers lightly stroked the small of her back, drawing circles over her smooth skin.

"What's kept you up, then?"

"It doesn't matter, Jackie, go back to sleep."

Jackie brought her face up to his. "I'm awake, now. Tell me what's wrong. Or tell me a story."

Steven grimaced. "A story?"

"Yeah, a bedtime story, Steven."

"Jackie, I'm not telling you a story."

"Steven-"

"No."

"Well, at least tell me why you're still awake."

Steven sighed, rolling onto his back. "It's like I said, just thinking."

"Must be pretty important," Jackie pressed.

"More confusing," Steven replied.

Jackie grew quiet, spooning against his side. Her breaths became even and deep and Steven silently hoped she had fallen asleep again.

"Steven?" Jackie asked, her voice cracking.

"What, Doll?" Steven forced his eyes open, fighting the pull of the weight of his lids.

"Will you take me sledding tomorrow? It's supposed to snow all night. The snow will be all fluffy and soft." Jackie's voice sounded small and childlike. She hooked her leg over his hip, and crossed her arms in a tight X between their bodies. "We'll have to get my sled out of the shed though, I think that's where Esme put it."

"Esme?" Steven asked, confused. "Who's Esme? I thought it was Martina?"

"It _is_ Martina. Esme was before Martina." Jackie said. She shifted against him, her leg sliding down his. "I used to have this locket, I don't know what happened to it. It had her picture in it. She was my first nanny."

"Locket?" Steven asked blankly. He had immediately pictured it, nestled in his cigar box stashed in his footlocker. So that was who the woman was. "Why would you have a picture of the help in a locket, Jackie?"

"What do you mean?" Jackie yawned.

Steven rubbed at his eyes, letting his hand drop heavily back to his side. "Well, it just doesn't seem like something you would do. Have a picture of a foreigner in a locket."

"Oh," Jackie said. "Well. I guess it's just that Esme was different. She was kind and sweet, and more like my mother than my own mom."

"Hmm," Steven hummed. His arm tightened around her back. "What happened to her?"

Jackie angled her chin down his chest, hiding her face from him. "I don't know. I left the summer I was thirteen for cheer camp. And when I came back, she had left. Daddy said it was because she wanted to be close to her family again."

Guilt clenched at Steven's chest. He had impulsively taken that locket, had kept it all these years. Multiple times he could have given it back. Hid it somewhere she would have found it. Broken into the house and put it back on the counter like it had never gone missing. But he'd kept it, selfishly, to have a piece of her. And it was obvious that it was something that was important to her. A piece of someone who she had cared for, and who had, presumably, cared for her deeply.

"You don't think she went back to her family?" Steven asked delicately.

Jackie exhaled hard, her warm breath sweeping over Steven's chest. Her voice was sorrowful, and her fingers picked at the fine hairs on his arm. "She promised she'd never leave, Steven."

"Sorry, Doll," Steven murmured. He pressed a kiss to the top of her hair, inhaling deep the scent of her coconut shampoo.

"It's whatever."

"You wanna know something?" Steven asked after a moments pause, jostling her.

"Yes," Jackie said, finally turning her face up to meet his eye.

"I hear it's gonna be perfect weather for sledding tomorrow." Steven felt his lips spread in a toothy grin.

"Oh, Steven!" Jackie cooed, pressing her full mouth to his in a searing kiss.

-x-

" _Steven… Steven, wake up…"_

Steven's eyes opened slowly, and he took a deep inhale, unwilling to move from his comfortable spot in Jackie's bed. The covers were pulled from his shoulders, letting in the chilled air, and Jackie slid in beside him, curling against his side, her face close to his on the pillow.

"Steven." Jackie whispered, bumping her nose against his in an Eskimo kiss.

"What, Jackie?" Steven rolled onto his side, facing her. "What time is it?"

"It's early," Jackie said flippantly. She pressed her hands to his chest. "Guess what!"

"God, Jackie, your hands are freakin' freezing!" Steven reached up, clasping her hands in his own. He pulled her close to him, settling into the mattress, prepared to fall back into peaceful oblivion. "Stop talking, sleep now."

"No! Steven!" Jackie pushed out of his arms, shoving him onto his back. She sat up, swinging her leg over Steven's hips, settling her weight over him. Steven blearily opened his eyes, wrapping his arms about himself as the cold assaulted him. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

"Jackie!" Steven bit out, annoyed. He grabbed the small analog clock on her bedside table, reading the hands through narrowed eyes. "Jackie, it's freakin' eight in the morning."

"Steven, it's snowed, just like I thought! Come on, we have to get going!" Jackie announced happily, bouncing over him.

"But first, sleep," Steven said, grasping her shoulders and pulling her down over him. He yanked the covers over their bodies, enveloping them in warmth. Her body was jittery over his, working him into excitement and he locked his arms around her, luxuriating in the feeling of her firm figure against him.

Jackie popped up like a jack-in-the-box. She pushed her long hair from her face, her lips wide in a grin. "No, Steven, now! While the snow is still fresh!"

"Jackie. It'll still be there in a couple of hours."

Steven opened his eyes when Jackie didn't respond, and immediately shut them again. She was scowling down at him, her lower lip protruding into a classic fake pout. Steven opened his eyes again in a crack, staring up at Jackie apprehensively. Fake tears pooled at the bottom of her eyes and she added a quiver to her mouth. Her shoulders drooped and she dropped her chin to her chest, taking a profound shuddering breath.

"Steven… Pleeeease…" Jackie raised her glossy eyes to his, a lone tear gathering on her lashes. "Pleeease, Steven, it'd make me so happy."

"Dammit," Steven mumbled, bringing his hands up to cover his eyes. Soft white stars bloomed over his closed lids. Jackie leaned over him, her shoulders beginning to shake with fake, soft sobs, a close second to the sobs she had subjected him to at Prom. Puffing his cheeks with air, Steven exhaled roughly, mumbling a terse "fine."

Jackie sprang up, tears forgotten and a broad smile on her face. "Yay! Come on! Get up, get up!"

Her enthusiasm was not contagious, but Steven sat up all the same on the twin-sized mattress with a groan, his face set into a glower. Jackie sped about her room, disappearing into the closet and emerging with an armful of winter clothes. She dumped the clothing onto the bed over Steven's legs. He reached forward, picking up a fluffy knitted scarf, wrapping it around his neck in an attempt to ward off the chill.

"I love the first big snowfall of the year," Jackie said, pulling her top over her head. She dug through the clothing, extricating a long-sleeved thermal. She shoved her arms into the sleeves, continuing to speak. "The way the snow looks, all soft and fluffy. Oh my God, Steven! We can make _snow_ _angels_!"

"I don't do that stupid crap, Jackie." Steven said, pulling the comforter up his body.

Steven adjusted the pillows against the headboard, watching as Jackie stepped out of her pajama bottoms, turning to her dresser. She grabbed a pair of rainbow print snow pants from the bottom drawer, pulling them over her legs. "I haven't been sledding in so long. I wonder if Daddy kept my sled. It's probably out in the shed, but then, it may be up in the attic. I think Esme put it in the shed."

Jackie paused, a pair of thick socks in her hands. "Steven! Why are you still in bed?"

"I'm waking up, Jackie." Steven responded. His eyes hooded with lust as he watched her react to his words. "It's not like you let me have much sleep last night."

A blush colored Jackie's cheeks. Her lips quirked libidinously, and she peered at him through her lashes. "I didn't think you were complaining about that."

"Oh," Steven said, swinging his legs off the bed. He reached out to Jackie, grasping the waist of her pants and drawing her closer. "Believe me, I'm not."

"That's what I thought," Jackie said wrapping the ends of the scarf around her hands, bending to press a kiss to Steven's mouth. She kissed him thoroughly, her saccharine tongue gliding over his, before abruptly taking her mouth away. Steven groaned, pulling her hips roughly to him. Jackie withdrew herself from him, shaking her head. "Uh, uh. Snow day, Steven."

"Ugh, ok, ok, geez woman." Steven stood from the bed, stooping to grab his jeans from the floor. He dressed quickly in the same clothes from yesterday, tucking the ends of the fuzzy scarf into the front of his jacket. He plopped to the end of the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Jackie pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "What about your parents?"

"I already checked the house. Daddy's gone and Mom's passed out. There were two empty bottles on her bedside table, so she'll be out for a few more hours. Ready?" Jackie asked, smiling. She draped her snow jacket over her arm, boots in her other hand.

"You are too excited for this, Jackie," Steven mumbled following her down the hall. She bounded down the stairs, leading the way into the kitchen.

"And you're not excited enough," Jackie shot back. She stopped by the breakfast table, stepping into her boots. "Don't you have good memories of snow days? Didn't your dad ever take you sledding?"

"No," Steven said, following her to the back door. "But I did have fun flinging snowballs at passerby. I'd hide in the bushes and pelt people as they walked past. Those were some good times."

"Well today is going to be the best day ever," Jackie said, wrapping her arms about his waist. She pecked his mouth, grabbing his hand and leading them outside.

The air was freezing and quickly cut into his coat. He shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling at Jackie as she pulled gloves over her own hands. The snow had covered the porch, and Jackie cut a path across the brick. She crunched across the snow towards the shed at the back of the property. Steven followed resolutely, buttoning his jacket up to his chin and turning up the collars. Snow soaked the bottom half of his jeans, seeping into his socks as he trailed after her.

Jackie reached the shed, pulling on the door. The snow had packed up around the entrance effectively blocking it off, and Steven moved away around the shed to the small window at the other side. He pushed open the sticking window, popping his head into the mildew-smelling building. "Jackie! Over here!"

"What?" Jackie asked breathlessly, her head appearing around the corner, button nose pink. She hurried over to his side, her fingers gripping the open window frame. "Perfect! All those days of breaking into people's homes have come in handy. Boost me up?"

"I only broke into one house. Maybe two." Steven bent at the knees, wrapping his arms around Jackie's thighs. He hoisted her up with a grunt, and Jackie pulled herself in to the shed, wriggling her way through the narrow window. A loud clatter followed her entrance and Steven peered into the darkness. "You alright, Doll?"

"Yeah, just knocked over a paint can." Jackie said, moving off into the shed. She glared around at her surroundings. "Ugh, it's disgusting in here! I'm going to be all dusty! It smells like something's died in here, Steven. Ugh!"

"Just find the damn sled, Jackie," Steven said, his eyes sweeping the dark shed. He extended his arm into the window, pointing across the small building. "Look over there."

Jackie disappeared around a high pile of boxes, her arms held tight to her body. She was quiet for a moment, before a triumphant cry filled the stagnant air. Steven wrapped his arms about himself, shaking his legs to ward off the cold. Panting, Jackie wrestled with a long toboggan, angling it to shove it through the window. Steven gripped the lip of the sled, pulling it from Jackie's grasp and dropping it to the snow beside him.

"Come on," Steven stuck his arms into the window, reaching for Jackie. She climbed up onto the workbench under the window, her thick snowsuit hindering her. Her hands slid around his neck, his under her arms, and he helped her back out into the cold.

"It's exactly like I remember!" Jackie exclaimed as Steven closed the shed's window again. She grabbed the rope at the front of the sled and began to tug it along, heading for the back of the property, where the ground naturally rose into a decent sized hill. "Come on, slowpoke!"

Steven sighed, taking off after Jackie. She had made a decent head start, but he caught up to her easily, taking the other side of the rope and helping her pull the sled up the hill.

They paused at the top of the hill, turning the sled to face the house. Steven climbed onto the back of the sleigh, anchoring his boots in the snow so Jackie could climb on in front of him. She propped her feet at the front of the sled, grasping the rope firmly in both of her mittened hands. Steven brought his legs up, squeezing her between his thighs.

"Ready?" Steven asked, taking the rope.

"Let's go!" Jackie squealed.

They edged the sled over the small hill, Jackie whooping with excitement. The air was bitter and bit at their bare faces as they whooshed down the hill. Drifts of snow rose around them and Jackie leaned back against him as they coasted down the powder, coming to a jerking halt just at the edge of the porch.

Jackie sprung up off the sled. "Again! Come on!"

Steven smiled, hurrying after her, pulling the sled at a jog up the hill. They kept sledding for what felt like an eternity to Steven's frozen feet. The bottom of his jeans had a layer of ice on the hem and he'd lost feeling in his toes after the second or third trip down. But Jackie was so happy and carefree, he couldn't tell her no. Besides, he'd suffered through worse, and for much less.

They left the sled by the porch, stomping the snow from their feet as they entered the house. Jackie pulled Steven quickly through the house, motioning for him to keep quiet as they hurried up to her bedroom.

Music played softly from her parent's bedroom and they tiptoed past, Jackie shutting her bedroom door with a soft snap. "She always listens to Carole King when she wakes up. Said it helps her feel beautiful despite the hangover."

"Sounds like she should be listening to Janis instead," Steven remarked, kicking his boots off his feet. He peeled off his wet socks, dropping them atop his boots.

Steven rubbed his hands together, creating some friction in an attempt to warm them up. He felt like he would crack with the frost that was covering him. His hair was wet and glacial on his scalp and he longed for a hot shower.

Jackie peeled her coat from her body, dropping it and her scarf to the floor. Pieces of hair had fallen from her ponytail, hanging in damp curls about her pink cheeks.

"You know what would warm us up?" Steven started, shuffling over to Jackie. He seized her hips, pressing their pelvises to each other. Her neck was cold on his mouth and Steven left open-mouthed kisses across the column of her throat, garnering a soft moan that went directly to his groin.

"But my mom-" Jackie began, cutting herself off at the feel of Steven's teeth raking her earlobe.

Steven walked Jackie backwards, pressing her up against the door. He reached around her, blindly searching for the handle and locking the door. "Shower?"

"We showered last night," Jackie returned half-heartedly, her eyes hooded with want.

"You're all dirty from the snow, Jackie," Steven argued, grabbing the backs of her thighs and pulling her up his body. "You need to shower again."

Jackie moaned, wrapping her arms about his neck. She latched on to his neck, moving her lips up his jaw to his mouth, angling her lips over his to kiss him deeply. Steven carried her, stumbling sightlessly into her dresser before making it into the bathroom.

Jackie chuckled softly, reaching over his shoulder to slam the bathroom door closed. Her long thin fingers grasped his cheeks, and she slanted her mouth over his again, controlling the kiss. Her honeyed tongue made Steven's knees feel weak and he moaned into her mouth, bolstered by the soft mewl that she responded with.

Adrenaline coursed through Steven's veins, and he propped her on the counter, his hands pressing to the small of her back, arching her into him. The sounds of their pants filled the pink tiled bathroom. Jackie's hands on his body burned like the ice that covered the small window over the shower. Her knees gripping his hips felt like two weights, pinning him to her. His heart felt swollen, pounding against his ribs. _Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub._

She whispered his name softly, over and over, and Steven decided that it was the best sound he had ever heard. The feel of her fiery breaths on his neck, and he quickly stripped her of her clothes, pooling them on the bathmat at his feet. This pure, exhilaration, of having her. Of hearing his name fall from her lips. Of taking possession of those full lips… He didn't think it would ever be like this, this life shattering. Like he was hanging from a great precipice, the rope threading apart, threatening to toss him to the depths of the rocky chasm that was Jackie Burkhart.

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 **A/N: Hello, my ducklings! No, I haven't given this up. We've come too far. There's still so far to go. I'm in the process of moving back to my hometown, so I can't promise when the next update will be, but I'm hoping it'll be soon. Please review! I love them, I thrive off of them!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Old Man**

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

 _And then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife,_

 _Is it love that brings you here or love that gives you life,_

 _For if loving is the answer than who's the giving for_

 _Do you believe in something that you've never seen before,_

 _Oh there's love, there is love._

 _-The Wedding Song,_ Captain and Tennille

-x-

January 12th, 1978

Jackie slowed at the corner of Marie Street and Magnolia, peering around a high drift of snow. Both of her hands were clutched around the neck of a paper bag stuffed with candy. She was keeping an eye out for Michael, had been avoiding him for the first  
twelve days of the new year, and she was not about to be caught unawares by him now. Steven said that he wasn't planning on hiding their relationship anymore, not since Michael practically knew, having discovered them at his party. But Jackie wasn't  
ready for that conversation with her ex, no matter what she'd told her current boyfriend otherwise.

Besides, it wasn't telling Michael that she was in love with his best friend that was the issue. Far from it.

She knew how he would react, just as she knew that she would inevitably be made to feel guilty for falling in love with his best friend, cause that was what Michael did. He turned it all around, made the other person into the bad guy, relying on his good  
looks to save him from retribution.

It was enough that Donna and Eric knew. They had gloated and acted Mightier-Than-Thou, throwing it into hers and Steven's faces that at least their own relationship wasn't an abomination that had to be hidden from their closest friends. That at least  
Donna wasn't the devil, seducing Eric with her sugared words. And Donna and Eric, in turn, had immediately told Fez, whom Jackie had steadily bribed with candy to keep him close-mouthed. Thus, the bag overflowing with sweets clenched in her fingers.

Shouldering her purse, Jackie took off down Marie Street, towards the Forman's. The heels of her boots resounded off the salted concrete and her breath crystalized in white bursts with each exhale. The cold Wisconsin air stung at her cheeks, drawing tears  
to her eyes and she huffed, thinking how her mascara would run. Her fingers swept across the cold hood of the Camino as she swept past up the drive, and she felt like lead was sinking into her calves, overtaking her feet as she neared the exterior  
stairs to the basement.

She walked as though one condemned. A thin sheet of ice covered the concrete and Jackie pressed her shoulder to the retaining wall, her eyes trained on the door, looming ever closer with each step.

On the third stair from the door, she slipped, her feet sliding out from under her on the iced stairs. Grabbing for the railing, she swallowed her shriek, righting herself quickly. The bag of candy had fallen from her hands, cascading over the stairs  
and pinging against the door.

She stooped to scoop the brightly wrapped treats into her paper bag when the door was swung open, startling her. "Fuck!"

"Has someone dropped a bagful of candy?" Fez asked histrionically, his dark eyes scanning the stairs and landing. He gasped, dropping to his knees to help Jackie. "Bubblegum delights! Chocolate wonders! _Not the saltwater taffy's!_ "

Jackie grasped his collar, pulling his face close to hers. "Listen here, _bucko_!"

Fez gulped, his dark eyes sweeping over her face, lingering a little too long on Jackie's strawberry glossed lips.

"I bought you this candy for silence, got it?" Jackie hissed. She jerked him back away from her for effect. "Michael still can't know about Steven and I."

"Ah, yes, well," Fez said pulling away, "about that…"

"About what?" Jackie asked tersely, her pounding heart catching her attention with its rambunctious throbbing.

"Well, you see…" Fez pocketed handfuls of candy. "There has been a new, uh, well, geez, a development, as you American's would say."

Jackie glowered. "What new 'development'?"

Fez stood, the pockets of his pants bulging with candy. The tips of his fingers tapped against one another stiffly. "Well…"

Her eyebrows rose high on her smooth forehead. " _Well_ …"

"Well, it's a very funny story, Jackie, see Kelso and Hyde kind of had a fight." Fez delivered quickly, his words running together. "About your, uh, _relationship_ , so to speak."

"A fight?" Jackie screeched, shouldering past Fez and into the basement. "Steven!"

Steven was slumped in his vinyl chair, a dishtowel of ice pressed to his eye. Kelso was in much the same state, two dishtowels of ice pressed one to each eye. Kelso lowered his makeshift ice packs at the sound of Jackie's entrance. He looked hopeful as  
she neared, his lips spreading into a smile that was quickly traded for a scowl as Jackie rushed past, stopping at Steven's side.

"What have you done?" Jackie asked, gingerly taking the ice pack from Steven's eye. The skin was taught and a deep black, tinged with purple down the nose. His once perfectly straight nose had a lump over the bridge and his cobalt eye was vividly bright  
against his bruised skin. Jackie's manicured fingers swept over his cheeks. "Oh, Steven."

"What about me?" Kelso asked. Both of his eyes were swollen. He looked like a bandit, his eyes ringed in black. "So it is true! You seriously are with _Hyde_? Jackie! I knew something was fishy about the two of you at my party."

"Oh what do you care, Michael?" Jackie spat, pressing the ice pack to Steven's face. Steven hissed at the pressure and Jackie released the towel, letting him take control of it. "Sorry, baby."

" _Baby?!_ " Michael said, pressing one ice pack to his face and motioning to his ex-girlfriend with the other. "What! How? Why? _How_?"

"Well, while you were out, sleeping with all Point Place has to offer," Steven began, lowering the ice pack to his lap, "not to mention, making a complete fool of Jackie, I was here, being the kind of man she deserves. You know, by not treating her like  
a pile of dog crap."

"Awe, Steven," Jackie cooed, pressing a kiss to the good side of his face.

"How long?" Michael demanded, standing to his feet, both packs of ice at his sides. His voice shook and cracked with emotion. "Were you two _together_ when we were _together_ , Jackie?"

"No," Jackie said adamantly. Her hands came to rest in fists against her hip bones. "I, unlike you, am _not_ a cheater!"

"Jackie, he's my oldest friend!" Michael yelled. His face started to turn a shade of puce.

"And I loved you!" Jackie retorted, her own voice rising. "That didn't matter too much to you when we were together, or have you already forgotten the way you treated me?"

"I just, I can't believe you would do something like this to me," Michael said, his face scrunching as tears gathered in his eyes. "This is just cruel, Jackie."

"Hey, lay off, Kelso." Steven stood to his feet, dropping the dishtowel ice pack to his chair.

"You lay off, Hyde, she was _my_ girlfriend first," Kelso said.

"Yeah, and she's _my_ girlfriend _now_ ," Steven said through clenched teeth. He pushed roughly at Michael's shoulder, upsetting Kelso's balance. "So back. Off."

Jackie stood back, her eyes drifting between the two boys standing before her. She wondered briefly how she had come to be in this spot. She decided quickly she didn't particularly care as the first fist was thrown. She screamed in shock, falling back  
against the spool table.

Michael lunged at Steven then, dropping the two ice packs. Ice scattered over the basement floor as Michael tackled Steven, knocking them both to the concrete.

"Michael!" Jackie cried, kicking out with her boot. She landed a good kick to his butt, and another good one to Steven's knee. The hot prickle of tears pierced at her eyes. "Steven! Stop it! _Stop it!_ "

Fez stood sentinel by the basement door looking torn. He pulled at his hair, chewing on his lower lip as his two best friends fought one another. The bag of candy had once more tumbled to the ground, and Fez stepped on a bright peppermint without caution,  
the round mint pulverized under his Chukka boots. Steven and Michael rolled on the floor, pulling and scraping and hitting whenever possible. Their scuffle grew louder in pitch and Jackie began to cry in earnest, hard wracking sobs that blinded her  
with tears. Her kicks were less aimed, landing against soft flesh at random, connecting with boyfriend and ex-boyfriend alike.

" _What the hell is going on down here?!"_

Jackie was yanked back from her kicking assault, wrapped up in Fez's arms, as Red came pounding down the stairs. Red stopped for a moment at the sight of the two boys on the floor, moving again when Steven absorbed a deft punch to the kidneys, curling  
onto his side with a groan.

"Get the hell off of him!" Red yelled, grabbing Kelso under the arms. He pulled Michael from Steven, twirling the taller man on his feet to stop by the interior stairs. Kelso panted, bringing the cuff of his shirt to his lip, staunching the steady flow  
of blood that poured from the corner of his mouth.

Kitty paused on the second landing, her hand pressed to her mouth. "Oh, my God."

Jackie wrenched herself free from Fez's grasp, dropping to her knees at Steven's side. His nose was bloodied, pouring like Niagara Falls from his nostrils. His lip had split and he tongued the cut, grimacing. Steven pushed himself back against the dryer,  
pinching his nostrils closed.

"Steven," Jackie said softly, crying even harder. She wiped the back of her hands haphazardly under her eyes, turning away to search for the discarded dishtowel. "Here," Jackie pressed the towel to his mouth, her touch more gentle when Steven hissed in  
pain.

"What the _hell_ is going on in my basement?" Red bellowed. "You!" He pointed to Fez. "Explain! NOW!"

Kitty came down the stairs, bringing her hands up to cup Michael's bleeding face. She turned his chin left and right, taking inventory. "I'll get you an eye patch, Michael."

Fez gulped loudly. "Well, Mr. Red, it's long story…"

"And you'd better get to telling it, Banana Boy, before I have you shipped back to Wherever-The-Hell you're from with a swift kick of my foot in your ass!" Red said, his face turning puce with anger.

"Well," Fez began, wringing his fingers, "it all started when Kelso cheated on Jackie with Pam Macy behind the gym-"

"It's nothing now, Red," Steven interrupted, coming to his feet. He wiped at a trail of blood dribbling over his lips. Jackie pressed herself to his side, her arms supporting his frame.

"Like hell it's nothing!" Michael spat wrenching his face from Mrs. Forman's touch, his teeth red with blood. "You stole my girl!"

"I didn't steal anything from you, Kelso!" Steven spat back. "You lost her of your own damn volition!"

"Everyone! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Red yelled. He pointed to Fez again. "Now, skip to the part where these two _dumbasses_ started fighting on the floor of my basement."

"Oh, yes, but of course," Fez said, shaking his head and licking his lips. "Well, ugh, well, Kelso is mad that Hyde has been dating Jackie for months in secret, and that he, Kelso, has been made as much of a fool as Kelso made of Jackie when _they_ were  
dating. So they got in a fight after Kelso came down here and asked what had happened at his New Years Eve party between Hyde and Jackie, and then they fought again, cause Jackie comforted Hyde, and here we are."

" _Months_?" Kelso screeched incredulously. "You've been dating her for months?"

"This whole secrecy thing really worked out," Steven said sarcastically. He fell to his chair with a grunt, pressing the soiled dishtowel to his nose.

Jackie felt blind-sided. Her toes were sore and throbbing in her boots from her onslaught of kicks. Tears obscured her vision and snot dribbled from her nose. She looked anything but her super cute self at the moment. Her mouth opened and closed like  
a fish, speech stuttering at the back of her throat. "You said it would be ok, Steven. You agreed…"

"Did I?" Steven asked, leaning his head back.

Mrs. Forman rushed to Jackie's side, pulling her into a soft and warm embrace. "There, there, it's alright."

"No, it most certainly is not alright!" Red sputtered. He turned to each occupant in turn. "You come into my house! You eat my food! You defile my basement with God only knows what! Incense? You think I was born yesterday? And now, you treat my home like  
your own personal _boxing ring_! Well, I've had enough!" Red grabbed the collar of Michael's shirt, shoving him across the room. "Everyone who doesn't live here, get the hell out! NOW!"

"Red, these boys need medical attention!" Kitty interjected, using the hem of her apron to wipe the tears from Jackie's face.

"I don't care!" Red said, shunting Fez and Michael out of the basement door. "Get out!" The door was closed in Michael's bleeding face. "And don't come back!"

"Steven-" Jackie hiccupped, grasping his upper arm. "Come on."

"I really-" Steven began to say, standing from his chair.

"Save it!" Red snapped, turning from them to stomp up the stairs.

"Mrs. Forman-" Steven tried again.

"Steven, dear, it's ok, but you should really go before Red comes back with a shotgun," Kitty laughed nervously and loudly. She helped Steven put on his coat, ushering them to the door. "You need to go to the hospital, Steven, that nose looks broken.  
I'll be in about an hour, and I better see you there!"

Kitty snapped the door shut on them unceremoniously.

"Steven-" Jackie cried. She stepped close, her fingers gently touching his cheek. "Oh, Steven, why would you fight?"

"Couldn't not fight," Steven muttered. "Would of seemed like a pussy."

"So you'd rather be bloodied and with a broken nose?" Jackie exclaimed as they started up the stairs. "Your beautiful, straight, Hollywood nose, Steven?"

"Maybe it'll make me look rugged and handsome," Steven returned impishly. He threw her the keys to the Camino over the roof of the car, sliding into the passengers seat. "You drive, Doll. That last punch got me good."

"You already _were_ handsome, Steven! Well, in your own, scruffy way." Jackie said, starting the car. She adjusted the rearview mirror, taking in her cried-out appearance. She rubbed at her face, covering her fingertips in black streaks of mascara.  
"I can't believe you, you're so stupid. Why would you do something like this?"

"Would you rather I just let him use me as a punching bag?" Steven's voice had hardened.

"No, of course not! Don't be stupid!" Jackie said. She jerkily shifted into reverse, stalling out at the end of the drive. Steven fixed an eerie glare on her as she shook the gearshift back down to first, cursing under her breath. The engine cranked and  
the transmission screeched like a scalded cat as she attempted to shift without the clutch all the way in. Slapping the palms of her hands against the steering wheel, Jackie cried "UGH! I hate this car!"

"I don't think it cares much for you either," Steven said. "Easy on the clutch, Jackie, you're burning it up."

Jackie turned to Steven, her eyes wide and wild. "Do you want to drive?"

"Honestly, yeah, since you're taking such little care of my baby," Steven said, reaching for the gearshift. Jackie slapped his hand away.

Jackie pressed her left foot to the floorboard, jerking them forward as the car lurched onward down Marie Street. She put the car in second, her sweaty fingers grasping the gearshift roughly. "Well, you can't, so shut up."

-x-

The hospital was busy. Crying babies, and old people… People coughing into damp handkerchiefs and oozing bodily fluids.

Jackie sneered around the waiting room, her fingers wrapped around a pen, which she had swathed in a Kleenex. There was no telling what sort of viral disease was on its surface. Steven for his part was a calm as a cucumber. He had immediately sprawled  
himself out in a chair, leaning his head against the short back. His nose had finally stopped bleeding, but he had refused to wipe away the blood covering his upper lip. _It makes me look tough, Jackie._

Pursing her mouth, Jackie returned her attention to the clipboard in her lap. She scooted closer to him, pressing against the wooden armrest separating them. "What's your middle name?"

"Tsk, tsk," Steven mumbled, his eyes closed behind his sunglasses. "Don't even know my middle name? I thought that'd have been the first thing you found out about me during all your _stalking_."

"I know it starts with a 'J'," Jackie said, fixing her eyes on him. "And I didn't _stalk_ you Steven."

"Uh huh." Steven crossed his arms across his belly, his knees spread wide. "Then what would you call it?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Fine, I _stalked_ you. Happy?"

Steven smirked. "Sure, doll."

"James?"

"No."

"Jasper?"

"God no."

"Jack? Jackson? Joshua?"

"Nope to all three."

"Steven- just tell me what your middle name is!" Jackie hissed.

Steven licked his lips. "I'm liking this guessing game actually. I wanna see how long it takes you, Beulah."

"Don't call me that," Jackie said, returning to the clipboard. She began to write again, her hand flying over the page.

An elderly woman took the seat across from them, her limp handkerchief pressed to her mouth as she hacked up a lung, her frail shoulders shaking. The handkerchief was soaked with phlegm when she pulled it away from her mouth and she wiped it under her  
nose, spreading a line of glistening snot across her upper lip.

Jackie let the clipboard fall to her knees, her eyes set on the old woman. "Do you mind? Some of us would like to not be infected with whatever disease you have that plagues the geriatric!"

"Excuse me? That is no way to speak to your elders young lady!" The woman admonished.

"Oh, you'll be dead soon, what do you care?" Jackie spat back.

"Steven Hyde?" A nurse called from the door of the waiting room.

Steven grasped Jackie's hand, yanking her to her feet. "Come on. Quit harassing the infirm."

"She started it, Steven!" Jackie replied, shouldering her purse.

"Did you have a chance to fill out the paperwork?" The nurse asked, reaching for the clipboard in Jackie's hands.

Jackie handed over the pen and clipboard, following the nurse as she paused at the nurses' station. The nurse scanned over the paperwork, unclipping it from the board and adding it to a fresh manila folder. She motioned with her hand for the pair to follow  
her to a treatment room.

"Ok, Mr. Hyde, if you wouldn't mind having a seat, the doctor will be right in to speak with you." The nurse set the chart into a slot at the end of the bed. She closed the door softly behind her.

"Done guessing?" Steven asked as he settled on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, I think I've figured it out," Jackie replied, a large grin on her face as the door opened once more, revealing Mrs. Forman and the doctor.

"What did you write?" Steven murmured as the doctor pulled the chart from its slot, reviewing what Jackie had written. " _Jackie_."

"Ok, Mr. Hyde, I understand you were in a fight?" The doctor asked. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

The doctor made to come around the bed, stopping when he noticed Jackie sentinel at Steven's side. The older man's eyes narrowed and he cleared his throat. "Young lady, you can't be in here. Kitty?"

"Come now, Jackie, wait out in the hall till after we've completed the exam." Kitty took Jackie's arm, pulling her from the bedside.

"No!" Jackie cried as she was forcefully shoved from the room. She stamped her foot. "Mrs. Forman!"

"Just five minutes!" Kitty said, smiling broadly, and shutting the door in Jackie's gaping face.

Jackie pouted, turning to lean against the wall. She crossed her arms over her chest, her foot tapping impatiently.

Hospitals. Ugh. Grimy. Lit with atrocious fluorescent lighting. Filled with sick, hacking, ugly people. Not the mention the dead. A shudder fell over her and Jackie shivered visibly, her fingers gripping her sweater. She eyed a gurney down the hall.

Shoving herself from the wall, Jackie began to pace the hall before Steven's room. Her heels clicked on the hard tile floor and she glared at all who passed her, hospital personnel and patient alike. Jackie wandered farther down the hall as the minutes  
ticked by, her arms held loosely before her stomach. _Five minutes, my ass,_ Jackie thought as she ambled towards the nurse's station.

An old man, hunched over in a wheelchair, wearing a thin hospital gown caught her attention, and Jackie stared back at the unabashed leer he gave her. He smirked at her, revealing deep red gums scattered with rotting teeth. Jackie's face dropped into  
a glare of disgust. His knobby knuckles grasped the metal armrests of the wheelchair and he leaned forward in his seat. "My, aren't you a pretty one."

Jackie tossed her hair over her shoulder.

The old man's tongue darted out from between thin lips. "Such a long, slender neck… Kissable too…"

"Ugh!" Jackie cried. She raised a hand, ready to slap her fingers across the man's papery cheek. "Creep!"

"Jackie!" Mrs. Forman hurried towards her from the direction of Steven's room, her blue eyes round. "What is going on here? You can't _assault_ my patients!"

Jackie pointed a finger of accusation. "He was harassing me!"

The old man's face had dropped into a snivel, his lower lip jutting out. "I don't know what she's talking about nurse. I only asked for a sip of water."

"Sharon! Can you get Mr. Simpson some water?" Mrs. Forman called. Sharon nodded, retreating into the nurse's station to fill a small cup with water. "Come on, Jackie."

"Liar!" Jackie accused the old man, jerking when Mrs. Forman hauled her down the hall towards Steven's room. "He's a liar! He was harassing me, Mrs. Forman!"

Mrs. Forman's grip tightened on Jackie's arm. She all but shoved the younger girl into Steven's room. "I'm sure he wasn't harassing you, Jackie, he's an old man."

"Who was she insulting now?" Steven asked from his perch on the bed. He'd been changed out of his jeans and t-shirt into a hospital gown, though he had kept his sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

"More like assaulting!" Kitty hissed lowly, busying herself about the room. She took Steven's patient chart from the doctor, producing a wristband from her pocket. Scribbling Steven's name and birthday from the paperwork onto the thin white paper band,  
Mrs. Forman snorted incredulously. "I caught her just before she began abusing Mr. Simpson out in the hall."

"Did he look at you funny?" Steven asked jokingly, adjusting himself back against the pillows. "Insult ABBA? Tell you that stripes and plaid matched?"

"Yes, he looked at me funny, alright." Jackie said adamantly. She dropped her purse onto a chair in the corner of the room. "And told me I was pretty and had a very kissable neck. I _know_ I'm pretty, Steven, I don't need geriatrics on the verge  
of death to tell me that."

"He told you that you have a 'very kissable neck'?" Steven's eyes narrowed. He directed his next question towards Mrs. Forman. "What room is this guy in?"

Jackie waved the question away, tucking her hair back behind her ears. She plopped onto the edge of Steven's bed, noting the way he winced as he was jostled.

"How bad is it, baby?" Jackie asked, clasping one of his hands.

The blood had been cleaned from his face, revealing a thick cut on his lip. Bruises littered his skin, the worst centered on the bridge of his nose and around his eyes.

Steven's sunglass-covered eyes flitted over to Mrs. Forman. He seemed somewhat uncomfortable with Jackie's fussing. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, his fingers picking at the threads of the blanket covering his legs. "I'll live." He said gruffly,  
subtly pushing away Jackie's hands.

"He'll have to stay a couple nights," Kitty said, coming to his other side. She secured the identity band around Steven's left wrist. "The punch Michael gave to his side bruised a kidney. You boys, I swear," Kitty turned away with a huff, "if it's not  
one thing, it's another, constantly keeping a mother on her toes."

"Sorry, Mrs. F.," Steven mumbled, turning the wristband over and over his arm.

"Yes well," Kitty turned back to the pair. She planted her hands on her hips. "Doctor Andrews wants you to rest up for a bit. If you need anything, I'll be just down the hall, sweetie."

Steven sighed heavily when Mrs. Forman left the room, his eyes dropping to the wristband again. "Jackie, I think we need to talk about-" He cut himself off.

"Yes?" Jackie asked innocently, watching him as he read the identity bracelet.

"Jermaine?" Steven sputtered. He hooked his pointer finger of his free hand around the band, shaking the bracelet before Jackie's face. "'Steven Jermaine Hyde'?"

"Do you like it?" Jackie asked, pushing her hair back from her shoulders. She smiled coyly. "I think it suits you."

" _Jermaine_?" Steven asked again.

"Well, you could have just told me what your middle name is, instead of making me guess." Jackie smoothed a wrinkle in the blanket covering his thighs. "You know I don't like guessing games, Steven."

"But Jermaine?" Steven dropped his hold on the band. "Am I the sixth member of the Jackson Five now?"

"They already have a Jermaine, silly." Jackie said dismissively. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Huh?" Steven's eyebrows drew together.

"You started to say we needed to talk," Jackie reminded him. She brought her knees up, curling her legs under her. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Oh," Steven brought his hand up to his face, gingerly scratching at his sideburns. The lenses of his sunglasses glinted in the harsh fluorescent light from behind the bed. "I mean, don't you think we need to talk?"

Jackie shifted her weight. "You're being cryptic, Steven, talk about what?"

Steven's voice dropped a decibel. "About what happened with Kelso."

"Oh," Jackie said. Confusion settled over her. Her eyes fell to the bed and her fingers picked at a loose thread in the blanket. "What's there to talk about?"

"It's just, well, I mean, he's one of my best friends, Jackie," Steven said softly.

"I know," Jackie said just as softly.

"I did kind of do a shitty thing. I guess." Steven continued, sighing.

"I don't think that at all," Jackie said, her temper flaring suddenly. "It's not like Michael _owned_ me, Steven. Besides, he was a jerk. He cheated on me all the time. Made me out to be nothing but an idiot cheerleader. Good riddance."

Silence spread between them for a pause.

"I'm not going to apologize, Jackie," Steven said.

Jackie met his gaze. "I don't think you have anything to apologize for."

Steven's eyebrows rose. "Kelso isn't going to be easy to deal with."

"Don't worry about, Michael," Jackie said, reaching out and grasping Steven's fingers. "I can deal with Michael."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Steven said, chuckling sardonically.

"What?" Jackie asked, her annoyance palpable. "You don't think I don't know how to deal with Michael?"

"Yeah, sure 'deal with Michael', as if that isn't a euphemism for sex." Steven pulled away from Jackie's grasp. "I don't want you 'dealing' with anything with Kelso."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Jackie felt her back tighten with tension.

"I didn't think it was that difficult to understand," Steven said, his voice dripping with disdain. "I don't want you talking to Kelso. At all."

Jackie stood from the bed. "I am my own woman, _Hyde_. You can't order me about!"

"Jackie, just-" Steven broke off, his legs shifting back and forth under the covers. "Look, just promise me you won't go trying to fix things with Kelso. I know how his brain works. Or doesn't work. Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, or was that too difficult to understand?" Jackie said, stalking around the bed to snatch her purse off the chair in the corner. She slung the strap over her shoulder, pausing at the door to look back at Steven sentinel in bed. "See you later."

"Jackie-"

The door closed on Steven's voice and Jackie stalked away towards the exit of the hospital, the heels of her boots resounding off the tiled floor in time with her angrily pounding heart.

-x-

"Daddy?" Jackie knocked softly on the door to her fathers study. The warm oak was smooth under her fingers, the metal knob cold.

"Come in," answered her knock. Jackie turned the knob, stopping in the doorway. Jack Burkhart glanced up from his paperwork, his brown eyes staring over the tops of his glasses. "Kitten? What's the matter?"

Jackie felt the hot sting of tears. She felt small, like a child, and she crossed the Oriental rug in quick strides, pushing her way into her fathers lap. Jack grew stiff for a moment, his arms dropping to encase his only child in a warm embrace. At the  
feeling of his hug, Jackie felt the torrent of tears rush out of her. She clung to her father, surrounded in the scent of his cigar, and bawled against the lapel of his coat.

"Come now, what's this?" Jack said, leaning back in his chair. The leather groaned at the combined weight of its occupants. "Is it that Kelso boy again? I told you I didn't want you to see him anymore, Kitten."

Soft hiccups wracked Jackie's frame as she calmed down. Her father patted her back comfortingly, his presence alone a balm on her heart. His chest rose and fell in gentle lulls.

"Daddy?" Jackie began again.

"Yes, Kitten?"

"Am I dumb?" Jackie questioned.

"Did that Kelso boy call you dumb?" Jack Burkhart barked derisively.

"No, I mean, I don't know." Jackie said, bringing her head up off her fathers shoulder. "It's Steven. I think he thinks I'm dumb."

"Who is Steven?" Jack asked.

"He's my boyfriend," Jackie said.

"I thought you were dating Michael?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Not for months now, Daddy. He kept cheating on me."

"Who is this Steven? Would I know him? What's his last name?" Jack asked. "It's not that Steven fellow who keeps getting arrested for spray-painting pot leaves on the courthouse is it?"

"Well," Jackie started. She stood, moving away from her father and over to the bookshelf. "Maybe…"

"Jacqueline." Jack's voice held a note of warning.

"He's one of Michael's friends," Jackie answered, running her finger tips down the spines of the books lining the shelves before her.

"The skinny one, the criminal, or the weird foreign one?" Jack asked, propping his elbows on the ink blotter.

"Funny you should say it that way…" Jackie spun on her heel, leaning back against the shelf.

"Jacqueline," Jack began.

"Daddy, just, forget I said anything," Jackie said dismissively. "Steven is good to me. Except for when he gets all caveman and tells me what I can and can't do." Jackie paused, her mouth downturned. "Ugh, now I sound like Donna."

Jack shuffled some papers, tapping them on the blotter into a concise pile. "Look, Kitten, I have a lot to do. The city is under a budget crisis and it's on me to find a solution. So if you're going to continue to speak in riddles, go find your mother."

"Fine," Jackie said. She left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She wandered around the house, half-heartedly looking for her mother.

Martina stopped her as Jackie passed by the formal dining room, motioning with the feather duster to the phone.

"Who is it?" Jackie asked, moving towards the handset.

"I'm not paid to ask questions!" Martina mumbled, waving her feather duster.

"You're paid to do your job!" Jackie threw back, picking up the handset. "Hello?"

"Hey," Michael said, his voice thick. "Can you talk?"

Jackie rubbed her lips together. "What do you want, Michael?"

"It's true, Jackie?" Michael said quickly. "You and Hyde?"

"Yeah, Michael, it's true." Jackie said, curling her index finger in the phone's cord. "What of it?"

"How, Jackie? I thought Hyde hated you?" Michael sputtered.

"Well, obviously not, Michael, I am a charming and beautiful woman," Jackie stated. "Lots of men love me."

"Jackie. Look, can I come over?" Michael asked. "I need to talk to you."

"We're talking now, Michael," Jackie said quickly.

"I need to talk to you face to face," Michael argued. "I think you owe me that much."

Jackie paused. Yeah, she did owe Michael at least that much. They had been together for three years, known each other since they were kids. Been through heartache, and love, and betrayal, and at one point in time, Jackie had considered Michael to be her  
best friend. He knew things about her that no one else did, not even Steven. Of course, she had drilled them into Michael's brain like facts for a test, but still. He knew.

"My father is here." Jackie said, her eyes focusing down the hall on her fathers closed study door.

"I'll sneak in like I did that one time," Michael responded.

"Michael, I don't think Steven will like us being alone together," Jackie said, untangling the cord from her fingers.

"So?" Michael said angrily. "I'm coming over, Jackie, so unless you're going to run off to Hyde for protection, I'll be there in ten minutes."

The sound of Michael slamming down his phone reverberated through the receiver. Setting the handset back into its cradle, Jackie took a deep breath, holding it in till her lungs started to burn. She paced the foyer, pausing to look up at the grandfather  
clock at each passing.

"Crap, crap, crap," Jackie muttered as the minutes ticked by. She jumped when a series of knocks pounded on the front door, wrenching open the door with a small groan of apprehension.

Michael was sweating profusely, rings of wet around his arms and the neck of his shirt. He pushed his hair back, nodding at Jackie. The bruises around his eyes had set, deep spheres of purple discoloring his skin. "Hey."

Jackie stepped out, closing the door behind her. She grasped Michael's arm, yanking him off the porch and around the side of the house.

"Jackie, stop," Michael pulled out of her clutch. He stared at her unabashedly, the intensity in his chocolate eyes making her feel uncomfortable.

She remembered why she had always been so attracted to him. He was gorgeous. His strong shoulders. His tapered waist. The line of his jaw. Michael Kelso was like a carved marble statue.

A carved marble statue that has slept with all Point Place has to offer, Jackie reminded herself.

"What Michael?" Jackie asked, crossing her arms. "What was so important to say, that couldn't be said over the phone?"

Michael licked his lips, shifting his weight. "I just, look, I needed to see you. Ever since my party, I've been thinkin'."

"About what?" Jackie asked, stiff with apprehension.

"About us, Jackie," Michael said softly, as though it were obvious.

Jackie shook her head, her right hand rising to hover between them. "No, no see Michael, there is no 'us'. There hasn't been an 'us' since you cheated on me with Eric's slutty sister."

"Jackie," Michael started, reaching forward and grasping her hand tightly in his fingers. "Look, I know I made lots of mistakes, but that doesn't mean I everstopped loving you."

"No," Jackie wrenched away. She began to pace again. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to come here, and say things like that, Michael."

"I'm serious, Jackie! I love you! You were the best thing I ever had!" Michael began to chase her as Jackie tore off across the yard towards the front door. "You can't run away from this, Jackie! You know you and I have something real!"

"Stop it!" Jackie hissed, spinning around to face her ex. "Just stop it!"

"I get it, you have to try someone else to see how good you had it before," Michael said, spreading his arms wide, "I did the same thing! So if you want to use Hyde, then that's fine. I forgive you."

"You _forgive_ me?" Jackie sputtered. She slapped an open palm across Michael's cheek, her touch seemingly having little effect on him. She slapped him again, harder. "I'm not using Steven, Michael! I don't want to be with you. I gave you multiple  
chances and you wasted them all."

"Jackie, I didn't know what I had then. I didn't know what it was like to not have you," Michael tried again.

"Shut up!" Jackie cried, starting up the porch steps.

"Wait!" Michael grabbed her forearm. He stopped on the step below her, so they were at eye level. Sweat dripped from his hairline, coursing down his temples.

"What? What do you want, Michael?" Jackie asked tiredly.

Michael propped his hands on his hips. "Jackie, you know you and Hyde aren't really going to make it. You know it. I know it. Eric and Donna know it."

"Oh?" Jackie cocked her hip, her arms returning to cross across her chest. Her heart pounded in her chest, thumping against her sternum. "And why do you say that?"

"Cause you and me, baby, that's why," Michael said.

"That doesn't even make any sense, Michael," Jackie argued.

"Oh, no," Michael said, "It makes perfect sense, Jackie. I'll prove it to you too."

"No thank you." Jackie said, opening the front door.

"Too late!" Michael yelled. "It's coming!"

"Bye, Michael!" Jackie yelled back, slamming the door closed.

"Who was that, sweetie?" Pam asked as she emerged from the living room. She leaned against the doorframe, bringing her wine glass to her lips. "Not one of those Jehovah's Witnesses again, right? I told that last one we weren't interested in working our  
way into heaven like some cult. God, just take the money and go, right?"

"No, it was Michael," Jackie said, shuffling her way across the foyer. She sank to the bottom stair, bringing her knees to her chest. "Mom, can I ask yousomething?"

"Sure, sweetie," Pam cooed, swaying.

"How have you and Daddy made it for so long?" Jackie asked. "I mean, you two have been together for, like, twenty years."

"Well, Jackie," Pam said, pushing off the doorframe. She framed her wineglass, displaying it to her daughter like a prize on a game show. "Alcohol is a wonderful ally."

"I'm being serious, mom," Jackie said, rolling her eyes.

"I am too, sweetie," Pam replied, taking a long sip from her glass. "Alcohol makes life easier to swallow." She giggled girlishly, winking at her daughter. "Among other things, that is."

"Gross," Jackie gagged.

Pam took a seat on the stairs next to her daughter, knocking her shoulder against Jackie's. She wrapped an arm about Jackie's shoulder, pulling her close. Chardonnay and Chanel filled Jackie's nostrils. Sighing dramatically, Pam spoke again. "Boy troubles?"

"Steven and Michael got in a fight because of me," Jackie supplied.

"Oh, how fun!" Pam said. She took another gulp of wine. "I used to love it when men fought over me. There was John David and Mark. Oh, and then Tony and Frank. And that time your father beat up Brooks Mills for looking at me twice while I was sunbathing."  
Pam winked. "Topless."

"Well, it was not as amazing as I thought it would be, it was terrible!" Jackie exclaimed. "Steven is in the hospital, and apparently some macho jerk now who thinks he can tell me what to do. Michael has lost his freaking mind. I just wanted a nice, easy  
relationship with Steven, mom. Now that it's out in the open, it's so hard."

"Jackie, nothing in life is easy," Pam said in a moment of seriousness.

"Well, it should be!" Jackie said adamantly.

Pam nodded her head, setting her empty glass on the stairs beside her. "It's hard for us beautiful ones, Jackie."

"I thought it was supposed to be easy for the beautiful ones." Jackie complained.

Jack Burkhart emerged from his office then, slinging his overcoat across his shoulders. He paused by the staircase, his dark eyes pinging between his wife and his daughter.

"Are you going somewhere, dear?" Pam asked, her voice strained with suppressed emotion.

"Yes," Jack said in a clipped tone.

"When will you be back?" Pam asked, clasping her hands between her knees. "Tonight?"

Jack bent at the waist, pressing a sweet kiss to Jackie's hair. He stood back, looking at his wife. "No."

"Then when?" Pam tossed back, the forced Donna Reed voice slipping.

"I'll be back when I'm back," Jack said turning for the door. He disappeared into the cold night, slamming the door in his wake.

Pam scooped up her wine glass, pushing herself up off the stair. She slinked across the hall back towards the living room, her bare feet sliding against the Persian rug. Her sweet tenor filled the house as she left, leaving Jackie behind to ponder the  
lyrics of the Captain and Tennille in a whole new context.

" _And then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?_

 _Is it love that brings you here…"_

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 **A/N: I am without Internet. I have been going crazy. This is slightly a filler chapter, mainly to help speed things along. But hopefully it meets standards! Please review!**


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